Some of those questions can’t be answered until the end of the season, but rumors of the Warriors demise appear to have been greatly exaggerated. Golden State is back to looking dominant once again, and it appears that Durant and Green have found a way to co-exist with one another. The solution to this was, of course, them sitting down and discussing it in a better forum than on the bench in the midst of a heated overtime game.

They laid out what was leading to their problems with each other and how they could be resolved. Green is concerned with how Durant is approaching free agency, which is to be expected, but Durant had an interesting response for Green. He wanted him to better control his emotions.

Durant told Green he wasn’t accepting the emotional excuse. Green’s fire is what makes him great even if it also makes him volatile. But Durant wasn’t buying that it’s uncontrollable. He’s seen Green control it. He’s seen him keep his composure in the crucible of championship stakes. He’s seen him locked in and focused, forcing his emotions to submit to his will.

So Durant challenged him to be better. Green accepted.

Durant’s request is honestly fair. Green is an emotional guy that lets that drive his play. It’s part of who he is, but he’s also an adult that knows how to control them. He can pick and choose when he wants to blow up. Durant wants his choices on when he blows up to be better selected. He doesn’t have to always be screaming, and knows what things may cross a line.

At the same time, Durant can’t expect Green to start being selective only for him. If Green feels the need to blow up on him then he has to accept that Green is doing so for a reason. There’s a give and take there and one that we have to assume for now the two sides better understand.

]]>https://uproxx.com/dimemag/kevin-durant-draymond-green-warriors-control-emotions/feed/0kevindurantdraymondgreenblue.jpgLuka Doncic Became The Second Youngest Player To Record A Triple-Doublehttps://uproxx.com/dimemag/luka-doncic-triple-double-bucks-mavs-video-youngest/
https://uproxx.com/dimemag/luka-doncic-triple-double-bucks-mavs-video-youngest/#respondMon, 21 Jan 2019 21:45:00 +0000http://uproxx.com/?p=401703006

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Luka Doncic is one of those rookies that just comes into the NBA and immediately starts tearing it up. On a nightly basis the Mavericks are watchable and a huge part of that is thanks to Luka Doncic. He’s a phenomenal offensive player that can score, run the offense, and pull down rebounds when asked. So, of course, he’s someone that can flirt with a triple-double.

On Monday, Doncic recorded his first career triple-double. A great milestone for someone that is probably going to be a great player, but it meant a little bit more than that. Doncic’s triple-double made him the second youngest player in NBA history to achieve that. The youngest? 76ers guard Markelle Fultz.

Triple-doubles don’t really mean much these days, with everybody getting them and the style of the NBA giving more players a chance to get them, but they don’t mean absolutely nothing. It’s still an example of a player that, in the right situation, can stuff a box score. The list of the five youngest players is interesting. It even includes a current teammate of Doncic.

After Luka’s triple-double against the Bucks today, here are the 5 youngest in league history to do it. Just further proof this DSJ-Luka pairing needs time, and a whole lotta patience. pic.twitter.com/nhtozPWvkq

It’s kinda funny to see that a current Mavs player going AWOL is on the list with Doncic, and Fultz has been dealing with a bizarre shoulder injury, but it’s also a good example that while an impressive feat it’s not necessarily a super important list.

Still, it’s a great accomplishment for Doncic and one of what should become many career milestones. Unfortunately for the rookie sensation, his triple-double came in a losing effort as the Bucks went on to win 116-106 to maintain hold on the NBA’s best record. Giannis Antetokounmpo even gave Doncic a mid-game baptism to celebrate his triple-double,

It’s unsurprising to know that Steve Kerr is pretty high on his former lead assistant, Luke Walton, and his ability to be a top head coach in the NBA. Walton has had one of the toughest jobs in the NBA this season. He’s had to navigate not only a high stress job like the Lakers, but he’s had to do so with LeBron James in town. When you have James then you have the expectations to compete for a title. Anything less is considered a failure of a season.

In Walton’s defense, the roster he’s been given to try and compete with would be one of the hardest jobs in the NBA for any coach. James is an otherworldly talent, but surrounding him are mediocre veterans and young players that still need time to grow. Especially in a crowded Western Conference. And with James out injured the Lakers have, of course, plummeted.

It’s pretty unfair to expect Walton to make the Lakers a dominant force in the league and not give him the tools to do so. That he’s gotten as much out of it as he has could be considered a plus in his coaching and that’s what Kerr has seen. He sees a coach that’s navigated one of the hardest jobs in the league and done so well.

Steve Kerr very complimentary on how Lakers coach Luke Walton navigated this season with LeBron, front office dynamics, young players and injuries. Kerr: “I have no doubt he’s cut out for this job.” pic.twitter.com/NlBNBT6YPF

“I know him so well. He’s cut out for this. He has the perfect temperament to deal with the ups and downs of the NBA season and the drama that goes on. I think he’s doing a great job with all the injuries they’ve had. I think they’re probably where they’re supposed to be. As they get healthy we’ll know how good they can be.”

Kerr is always going to stick up for Walton, because Walton was someone that coached under him during the Warriors early title run. He took over for Kerr during the season they won 73 games while Kerr had to sit out from medical issues. He’s obviously going to support him, but his words shouldn’t be taken as just someone standing up for his guy.

And he’s not wrong. Walton has done a, for the most part, good job navigating everything taking place in Los Angeles. Worse coaches would have failed far more by now. Walton is getting more out of his defense than should be expected and, while the offense has problems, it’s far better with LeBron James in the lineup. Walton deserves time and better players to make this all work, but will the Lakers give him that?

Should pass interference be a reviewable call? That’s how many fans feel after the Rams got away with a blatant version of it in the NFC Championship game on Sunday. Saints wide receiver Tommylee Lewis had gotten open on the sideline with a pass coming to him from Brees. Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman came in and, without even playing the ball, lit up Leelewis.

Not every interference play is quite so obvious, but this one was easy to see at full speed and even more obvious in replay. Had officials been allowed to review the call, or even have it challenged by the Saints, then the pass interference could have been called retroactively and given to the Saints. That isn’t allowed by the current rules, though, and the Saints went on to lose in overtime.

The no-call has become a major talking point in the aftermath of championship weekend. And it’s sparked a loud call for change in how the NFL handles officiating rules. Could spot fouls like this be reviewable in the future? According to the Washington Post, it’s at least a possibility being discussed!

The Post reported on Monday that changes could be coming to the rule this offseason.

“It will be discussed at length along with additional fouls that coaches feel should be subject to review,” one person familiar with the league’s inner workings said Monday, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the ongoing public furor over the botched call in New Orleans.

A high-ranking official with one NFL team confirmed that making pass interference reviewable will be considered, adding: “And there will be discussion on [replay] review of calls and non-calls.”

The problem with making interference a reviewable rule is that so much of it can be considered subjective. What someone may consider to be interference could be seen as a case of just two guys being physical to someone else. How every official, player, and coach views contact is going to vary. Allowing this to become something that will be reviewed could open up a Pandora’s Box that the NFL just doesn’t want to deal with. Football games are already long and allowing more chance for review could slow certain games down to a halt.

At the same time, there has to be a way to make plays that were obviously gotten wrong on the field fixed without it getting too complicated. It’s frustrating to know that, had the refs just been given a chance to look at the play again, they would have made the right call. It’s not often that simple, though. Will making sure that one play goes the correct way be worth the amount of times officials have to go under the hood for the more minor interference calls?

One way to do this would be how the NBA handles out of bounds calls. The only time refs are allowed to review an out of bounds possession call is in the final two minutes of the game. If the NFL really wants to give reviewing interference calls a try then implement it in this way. Any play before the two-minute warning can’t be reviewed for interference. The NFL could also allow it to be reviewed on scoring plays since all touchdowns are reviewed automatically already. This would be a good compromise without creating a severe risk in putting games to a complete halt. But we’ll see if the league does anything this offseason to alter the current rule.

Marcus Smart is one of those guys that just gets under people’s skin. His attitude, playstyle, and general demeanor doesn’t make him very likable unless you’re a teammate of his. So, for someone like J.R. Smith that has spent years battling against him, Smart can become exhausting to deal with.

Smart was recently ejected when he got into it with Deandre Bembry before a mid-game tip off play on Saturday. What started off as trash talk kept growing into something more before Smart was running through a crowd of people to get at Bembry.

Smart was fined $35,000 for his role in the incident. That’s to be expected when you notice that Smart ignored multiple officials and team staff trying to remove him from the court. He barrels through everybody to try and get to Bembry.

Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart has been fined $35,000 for physical altercation and failure to leave court in timely matter on Saturday night.

It made Smart look a little foolish and hot-headed, but one person had a good laugh about it all. J.R. Smith saw the video of Smart’s ejection on Instagram and left a comment laughing at his expense. He made sure to throw in that Smart was a bum for good measure.

The Cavs might not be good anymore, and Smith isn’t even with the team right now, but bad blood never rests. The years spent battling between the Celtics and Cavs has built up enough of that for Smith to still feel the need to laugh at him. Even when they aren’t playing against each other anymore. That’s some deep feuding.

Lonzo Ball has shown some promise this season. He’s considered to be one of the better defensive point guards out there, and in flashes, he’s shown why the Lakers took him No. 2 overall in the draft. However, just when he really started to find his groove this season, injury struck. On Saturday, Ball went down with a pretty scary looking ankle injury, but thankfully, the X-rays came back negative.

An MRI, however, did not come back quite as positive for Ball. He’s going to miss, at minimum, four weeks of basketball, with it potentially taking up to six weeks for him to return to action.

OFFICIAL: Lonzo Ball, who was injured in last night’s game at Houston, underwent an MRI which revealed a Grade 3 left ankle sprain.

The Lakers should be getting Rajon Rondo and LeBron James back from injury sometime soon, so there are some positives for the team as a whole, but Ball couldn’t be getting hurt at a worse time. The Lakers are trying to make a run at the playoffs, and while James is the key to everything, Ball is an important piece on both sides of the ball.

Fortunately, Ball should be able to slide right back into his spot in the rotation when he returns. The issue is that losing anyone is rough, especially at a position where the team has been banged up for stretches this season.

On Saturday the Lakers faced the possibility of another key injury. They’ve already been without LeBron James and Rajon Rondo, leaving them fairly thin with regards to ball-handlers. Then Lonzo Ball went down with a scary looking ankle injury against the Rockets and had to be helped off the floor by his teammates.

The last thing the Lakers needed was to lose their young point guard, that in flashes has shown promise, for a significant portion of time. Lucky for them, the X-rays on Ball came back negative. How long he’ll be out is still a bit of an unknown, but the Lakers aren’t in a place to afford losing any of their playmakers.

James took over as a point forward in November. Rondo and Ball are their best “pure” point guards and each have taken turns with the starting unit. Without any of them the Lakers options for a primary ball-handler are slim.

A bit of good news for the Lakers while they try to hang onto this one. Lonzo Ball's X-Rays were negative for fractures, per source.

With Ball out, the Lakers will look towards the return of Rondo and James. The team is hoping they will soon be back at practice, but it’s unlikely they’ll be back in time for Monday’s showdown against the Warriors.

Luke Walton says he hopes to have a full practice with both LeBron and Rondo on Sunday in L.A. but he does not anticipate either of them playing Monday vs. GSW.

The Lakers have a few options at playmaker. They can always go with the young Josh Hart. He was recently moved to the bench in place for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, but after Ball went down a lot of his minutes ended up going to Hart. Caldwell-Pope also saw minutes increase following Ball’s injury, staying on the floor for 40 minutes in the overtime loss to Houston. The Lakers could also go with Lance Stephenson, but that should be a last resort option. Stephenson is a creation type player, but he’s better at attacking for himself than creating for others.

Breaking this down to a very basic level, the Lakers best option is go with Hart. He has a 2.1 positive net rating this season, one of the few players on the Lakers with a net rating of +2 or higher. KCP has a rating of .5 and Stephenson is a -1.6. Obviously, there’s a lot of noise and context in this stat, but it would fit how Luke Walton chose to approach his minutes once Ball went out injured.

The Lakers don’t have too many options here. They’ll need to hold on as best they can until James and Rondo come back, but who knows when that could be. Neither veterans is going to rush back from injury, but as long as Ball is out the Lakers lack of playmakers is going to be exposed.

Everybody that’s watched the Thunder play before knows that Steven Adams is one of the toughest players in the NBA. His ability to take and dish out contact, while still being an effective player in a more finesse heavy NBA, is impressive. There just aren’t many big lumbering players anymore. Of course, Adams is anything but lumbering.

He’s surprisingly quick for his size and it will catch people off guard. What isn’t a surprise is that this man can take a punch with the best of them. Back in 2014, in a playoff series against the Grizzlies, Adams took a shot at Zach Randolph while running back in transition. Randolph, obviously displeased with Adams, threw a punch at Adams. Nobody really realized it happened at the time, because Adams reaction wasn’t typical of someone that just got punched.

So obviously the punch didn’t hurt, right? Nope. It hurt a lot. Adams just didn’t really care about it all that much until it started to have an impact on his daily life, as he told ESPN’s Royce Young.

Then-Memphis Grizzlies forward Zach Randolph punched Adams in the face and was suspended for Game 7, but no one knew about the hit because Adams never reacted to it. That is, until his jaw was so sore he couldn’t chew his waffles the next morning.

“Oh yeah, I was pissed,” Adams says with a laugh. “Because I love food.”

Now if there’s something you don’t get in the way of it’s a big man’s food. Waffles, the clearly superior breakfast item to pancakes, are delicious and anybody should be furious if they can’t get the opportunity to enjoy such a delicious treat.

What’s incredible about that Adams quote is that he’s not just talking like that to be funny. This just who Adams is. In the same ESPN article, he spoke his love for layups.

Steven Adams, a giant tough guy from New Zealand enjoys many things in life, but always remember that he loves layups and don’t get in the way of his waffles.

]]>https://uproxx.com/dimemag/steven-adams-thunder-waffles-zach-randolph-punch/feed/0stevenadamsclap.jpgIt’ll Cost You $3,500 To Film LaMelo Ball’s High School Team At An Upcoming Tournamenthttps://uproxx.com/dimemag/lamelo-ball-family-spire-film-3500/
https://uproxx.com/dimemag/lamelo-ball-family-spire-film-3500/#respondThu, 17 Jan 2019 19:30:00 +0000http://uproxx.com/?p=401698041

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LaMelo Ball and the Ball family bring certain attention with them that makes them a little more interesting than the average basketball playing family. Between LaVar Ball’s outlandish statements, Lonzo Ball being an NBA player, and the Ball family’s failed attempt to make a name for themselves in Europe, there’s a lot of interest there for a lot of people.

So much interest that, unsurprisingly, they’d like to cash in on it. The Ball family’s brand, Big Baller Brand, wants to make some money off the hype surrounding the youngest brother as SPIRE Academy prepares to play at an upcoming tournament in Kentucky. According to a release, if you want to film one of SPIRE’s games at the tournament, then you need to give Big Baller Brand $3,500 at the gate. Yes, that’s right, $3,500.

If your first reaction is that $3,500 seems like an incredibly steep price to film a high school basketball game, then you’re not alone. It’s a lot of money, but the idea from Big Baller Brand is clearly that the media is making money off footage of LaMelo playing, so why shouldn’t they get a cut. On the same side of the coin, the reason LaMelo is the star he is at his age is largely based off the incessant media coverage of the family’s every move.

We’ll find out soon what outlets were willing to shell out some cash for the rights to film, but the effort would probably be more effective if LaMelo was on a team full of future NBA stars. Credit to the Ball family for trying to cash in where they can, though, even if the $3,500 price tag is utterly ridiculous.

]]>https://uproxx.com/dimemag/lamelo-ball-family-spire-film-3500/feed/0lamelo-ball.jpgGregg Popovich ‘Doesn’t Know The Answer’ To How Much Longer He Will Coach The Spurshttps://uproxx.com/dimemag/gregg-popovich-spurs-retire-future/
https://uproxx.com/dimemag/gregg-popovich-spurs-retire-future/#respondThu, 17 Jan 2019 18:19:23 +0000http://uproxx.com/?p=401698121

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Gregg Popovich, arguably the greatest coach in the history of basketball, is 69 years old. He will turn 70 in January 2019. He’s coached in some capacity for the Spurs since 1988. He briefly coached with the Warriors, but eventually re-joined the Spurs in a front office capacity before taking over as the head coach. During that time he’s won five championships and well over 1,000 games. He’s accomplished so much and one day he’s going to retire.

Could that be soon? It’s hard to think of a Spurs organization without Popovich, but according to Marc Stein of The New York Times that could be the case as soon as next season. Popovich is unsure when he’ll retire, but he’s also unsure if he’ll be coaching the Spurs next year.

“I don’t know the answer,” Popovich said when asked about his plans for next season in an interview Wednesday night after the Spurs’ 105-101 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

Popovich said he and R.C. Buford, San Antonio’s longtime team president, have periodically discussed the club’s various options after this season.

“He’ll coach as long as he wants to coach,” Buford said.

The question of Popovich’s retirement had to come up at some point. The idea for a long time was that he would retire the same year Spurs legend Tim Duncan retired. Instead, he’s stuck around and watched Duncan retire, Manu Ginobili retire, and Tony Parker leave for Charlotte. The golden years of the Spurs are over and Popovich is all that remains of it. So how much longer will he stay around? That’s hard to really predict. He could really retire at any point and it would be shocking for no other reason than it’s impossible to see a world without Popovich coaching in it.

Even if Popovich does retire from the Spurs he will still be on a bench in some capacity. He’s agreed to be the coach for Team USA Olympic Basketball until at least 2020 and many believe that he won’t coach the Spurs longer than that. Everybody knows that Popovich will retire eventually. No matter when it happens it will still feel too early.

]]>https://uproxx.com/dimemag/gregg-popovich-spurs-retire-future/feed/0popstern.jpgScottie Pippen Wants Zion Williamson To End His College Career And Focus On The NBA Drafthttps://uproxx.com/dimemag/zion-williamson-duke-scottie-pippen-nba-draft-video/
https://uproxx.com/dimemag/zion-williamson-duke-scottie-pippen-nba-draft-video/#respondWed, 16 Jan 2019 21:30:00 +0000http://uproxx.com/?p=401696338

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Zion Williamson is viewed as a near-lock to go No. 1 overall in the 2019 NBA Draft once he declares. It’s impressive for a young player to have already become a consensus top pick this early in the process, but Williamson has captivated basketball fans with his unique and exciting brand of ball.

Which begs the question: What exactly is left for Williamson to accomplish in college? Of course, he can play for Duke, become a consensus All-American, and try to win an NCAA Championship. But seeing as how he’s playing basketball for free and has a gigantic payday on the horizon, wouldn’t it be better for him to just sit out, not risk injury, and spend the rest of his time preparing for the NBA?

According to Scottie Pippen on The Jump, that’s exactly what Williamson should do.

“I think he’s done enough for college basketball,” Pippen said. “It’s more about him personally now. I think for him as a young player I would shut it down. I would stop playing because I feel that he could risk a major injury that could hurt his career.”

Tracy McGrady added onto Pippen’s point that players in college football are skipping bowl games to prepare for the NFL Combine. It’s not a completely off-base comparison (even if it is a bit flawed), and besides, if Williamson were to stop playing tomorrow and announce his intention to focus on NBA Draft, then he would still go No. 1 overall. He’s that talented, plus if he was moved down a draft board, a team’s marketing department would raise hell.

That said, the chances of Williamson actually skipping the rest of his season at Duke are incredibly small, not only because it’s not something anybody ever does barring an injury, but most players aren’t wired this way. Williamson declaring early would really, really hurt the Blue Devils, plus it invariably would cause many to question his drive and desire to be the best player.

This is more a fun thing to think about and debate than anything else. It’s hard to envision a scenario where this happens barring something totally unforeseen, which outside of the lack of compensation is a good thing, because that means we get to spend the rest of this season watching Williamson dunk on people.

]]>https://uproxx.com/dimemag/zion-williamson-duke-scottie-pippen-nba-draft-video/feed/0zion williamsonThe NBA Has Sought Advice From The English Premier League On How To Handle Legalized Gamblinghttps://uproxx.com/dimemag/nba-english-premier-league-gambling/
https://uproxx.com/dimemag/nba-english-premier-league-gambling/#respondWed, 16 Jan 2019 21:00:00 +0000http://uproxx.com/?p=401695923

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While the NBA taking a progressive approach to legalized gambling, there have been questions about how the league will handle the sometimes-controversial practice. Gambling is as much a part of sports as anything else, but there’s always the fear of it taking over and games being fixed in some way.

In an attempt to make sure this doesn’t happen, the NBA is looking across the pond. The English Premier League has openly embraced gambling for years, with multiple teams sponsored by betting companies and betting lines being shown throughout matches. With the league in London for its annual game in England, NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum elaborated on what it believes it can take away from how the Preier League approaches gambling.

“We’re trying to educate our fans. We’re educating our players and our teams. We’re taking a little bit of a cautious approach here. … But generally, we think it’s a good thing for sports betting to be regulated, to be legalized, so there is better information being captured.”

Yet advice has also been sought, and insights taken, from the English Premier League. Nine of its 20 clubs have betting firms as their primary jersey sponsors, and almost every British stadium incorporates betting outlets and pitchside advertising of the latest odds, especially during matches broadcast on live television.

The key for the NBA will be figuring how to not go too far into the world of gambling. There’s a lot of potential revenue to be made here and they can’t just let themselves get caught up in that. These are common concerns people have when talking about leagues embracing gambling in sports, but the NBA doesn’t seem too worried about that, as they’re doing the necessary research to do this properly.

How the Premier League strikes a balance between revenues and responsibility has been closely observed, Tatum said.

“That really helped inform some of our thoughts on how sports betting could work in the United States. We’re seeing a large shift now and a change in the landscape of sports betting in the U.S.,” Tatum said. “We’ve gone to school on them. We’ve actually shared a lot of information with them and have a great partnership with them.”

The legalization of gambling nationwide in the United States is something that could potentially change the way fans consume sports, and it’s hard not to wonder how far the NBA will go in embracing the practice. Will the league start promoting teams covering spreads, and provide in-game line updates, or is that a step too far? Time, ultimately, will tell.

It’s looking like 2019 is going to be a huge year for New York’s favorite superhero, Spider-Man. The beloved web-slinger had a new teaser come out on Tuesday for his upcoming film, Spider-Man: Far From Home, which of course has everybody excited about what else is in store — between the success of Marvel’s Spider-Man for the PS4 and the success of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, 2018 was a gigantic year for the character.

In addition to the upcoming film, we learned that the New York Mets, Peter Parker’s favorite baseball team, will pay tribute to him this season. The teaser from Tuesday included a mention of his love for the Mets, something that has been shown throughout the years. The Mets will return that love on July 7 when the first 25,000 fans entering the stadium for their game against the Philadelphia Phillies can get a Spider-Man bobblehead as part of a day that, apparently, will be dedicated to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Just added to the promo schedule…Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man!

There are few things more baseball than getting a bobblehead at a game, and seeing the Mets embrace their biggest fictional fan with a day dedicated Marvel is pretty cool. Beyond the Spider-Man bobbleheads, it remains to be seen what else the Mets have up their sleeve for the game.

The game and then ensuing promotion comes a few months after Avengers: Endgame hits theaters on April 26.

While the Nuggets sit atop the Western Conference, half a game ahead of the Warriors, it’s easy to forget that not long ago Denver head coach Mike Malone was on the hot seat. The Nuggets were dealing with injuries and struggling. They had expectations of making the playoffs and there was a strong belief that if the Nuggets missed out then Malone would be fired at the end of the season. He came within one play in game of making the playoffs against the Minnesota Timberwolves, but fell short.

But Malone wasn’t fired. Instead, he was given a contract extension before the start of this season. That extension has paid off so far: the Nuggets have had one of their best seasons in years. Nuggets fans are thrilled. You know who else is happy? Warriors forward Draymond Green.

Warriors test their mini momentum tomorrow night in Denver against the West-leading Nuggets: 29-13 overall, 18-3 at home. Here's Draymond Green last night when asked about Mike Malone and his Nuggets. pic.twitter.com/UQoIxmnJCl

Green is a big supporter of Malone and feels that he’s been the key to the Nuggets success. Malone’s ability to reach players like Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray is paying off dividends for the Nuggets. Jokic is playing like the star he should be and Murray is growing into one himself. These two, along with Paul Millsap, are the foundational pieces of the Nuggets. It’s left Green impressed everybody else should be feeling the same way.

How Malone got to this point is fascinating. This is the first time in his career that he’s really had sustained success over an entire season. Last year was a start, but inconsistencies plagued the Nuggets and are largely why they missed the playoffs. Before he was in Denver, when he was in Sacramento, he was shockingly fired mid-season after helping the Kings get off to a surprise start. Even then, that surprise start was only a 5-1 record and he was fired when the team fell to 11-13.

Not to say the firing was deserved, but Malone had a lot of growing he needed to do as a coach. Denver gave him that chance and he’s been able to grow along with his players. The results have been phenomenal for Nuggets fans, and it’s good the organization gave him an opportunity to shine beyond last season’s disappointing end. Now the Nuggets will get to put themselves to the test against the Warriors at home on Tuesday. Don’t expect Golden State to overlook them either. You already know Green won’t do that.

]]>https://uproxx.com/dimemag/draymond-green-warriors-mike-malone-nuggets/feed/0draymond-green.jpgThe Mavs Might Be Able To Draw More Talent To ‘Come Play With Luka’https://uproxx.com/dimemag/luka-doncic-mavericks-free-agency/
https://uproxx.com/dimemag/luka-doncic-mavericks-free-agency/#respondMon, 14 Jan 2019 21:30:00 +0000http://uproxx.com/?p=401692468

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It might be too early to say Luka Doncic is a star in the NBA, but that’s certainly how it feels when watching him play. The greatest European prospect of all time has not missed a beat in making the jump from Europe to the NBA and his play is starting to turn heads around the league. Anybody that watched Doncic in Europe knew this was a possibility. His play and accomplishments from such a young age against actual pros was more than enough to note that he had great basketball skill.

Still, there was an expectation that he would take at least a little time to adjust. It’s a new country with different rules against the world’s absolute best. And he’s only 19. Yet, if there’s been an adjustment period, Doncic has done his best to mask that. His play has even caught the attention of arguably the greatest international player ever, Dirk Nowitzki, but is Doncic still too new to attract free agents?

According to Sporting News he might be the key to free agent success for a Mavericks team that’s often been on the outside looking in when it comes to luring big free agent signings to Dallas.

“It’s always hard to make that pitch and get over the hump with free agents,” one league source told Sporting News. “But they didn’t really have a chance with those guys. Players mostly like (owner Mark) Cuban, and they were always a compelling enough franchise to get in the room with LeBron and Dwight Howard and other stars. But they could not present themselves as a team with a great future.

“They can do that now. Not sure they can push a star to put his name on the line, but ‘Come play with Luka,’ it’s a better message.”

The Mavericks have always been a team that could get their foot in the door with free agents, but they’ve never been one to close out with them. Sometimes just being one of those constant teams that get meetings is great though, because when someone finally does sign it’s a domino effect. More stars eventually want to play there. The key is getting that piece to get that one signing. For the Mavericks it really could be Doncic.

That said, it still might be a little too early to sell free agents on the idea of Doncic. He’s playing extremely well and that level of play is going to eventually get him noticed by his peers. Right now though, beyond the European vote in the All-Star Game, Doncic is still trying to gain that respect from the rest of the league. He has to do his time and play these stars. Once he’s done that, and players respect him, he’ll be someone other guys want to play with.

]]>https://uproxx.com/dimemag/luka-doncic-mavericks-free-agency/feed/0doncic-cup.jpgClint Capela Will Reportedly Miss Four to Six Weeks With A Thumb Injuryhttps://uproxx.com/dimemag/clint-capela-rockets-thumb-injury-news-out-details/
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Another injury has hit the Rockets. They’ve already been without Chris Paul and Eric Gordon due to injury and now big man Clint Capela is going to be out as well. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported that Capela will be out four to six weeks due an injury in his right thumb.

Rockets center Clint Capela will miss four to six weeks with right thumb injury, league source tells ESPN.

With this injury to Capela, the Rockets will now be without three of their five starters. The only remaining healthy players in the usual starting lineup are James Harden and PJ Tucker. Houston has already felt the force of its injuries in a late-game collapse in Orlando. An MRI on Capela revealed ligament damage, which explains the length of his impending absence from the team.https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1084906027974356993

What Capela does for the Rockets cannot be understated. He’s a perfect modern-day non-shooting center with athleticism and lateral quickness and a great ability to not only protect the rim but contain in the pick-and-roll. He doesn’t let his weaknesses run him off the floor and offensively he’s a monster that is virtually unstoppable in pick-and-rolls with Harden (and Paul when he’s out there) and lurks on the baseline ready to pop over for a lob or board when Harden is in iso-mode.

James Harden will have his work cut out for him after losing yet another teammate. He’s been averaging 40 points a game for the month of January, but Houston has been .500 in that stretch due to this pile of injuries. Harden has managed to keep the Rockets right in the thick of the playoff race, but in the hotly contested West, one rough stretch could dig them in a hole that at this point of the season would be hard to pull out of in terms of seeding. Houston plays the second game of a back-to-back against the Grizzlies on Monday night.

When Tony Parker agreed to a deal with the Hornets and left the Spurs, it was stunning. Sure, players had left the Spurs before, but never had one of the original title-winning trio done it. Parker, alongside Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan, were the faces of the Spurs dynasty. Duncan and Ginobili retired as Spurs. The assumption was that Parker would end up doing the same.

But the veteran guard went in a different direction. Parker left to go play with former Spurs assistant James Borrego, and French national team teammate Nicolas Batum in Charlotte. But you could argue that exit from San Antonio happened in a very odd way. You would think this would have been the result of a lengthy discussion between Parker and the Spurs where the two sides couldn’t reach an agreement. But no, Parker simply called the Hornets and asked for an offer. When they made one he took it. And the Spurs weren’t even given a chance to make a counteroffer.

That’s according to an ESPN report by Michael C. Wright, which was released on Monday.

They really didn’t take me seriously that I was going to leave,” Tony Parker says in a room full of folding chairs at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, more than 1,200 miles from the place he still calls home.

Still hurt by his departure from San Antonio, Parker nonetheless wants to “focus on the great 17 years we had.”

Parker leaving was stunning enough, but that he pretty much didn’t give the Spurs a chance to keep him around says just how ready he was to make that decision. He really never gave San Antonio a chance to match that offer the Hornets gave him.

“A little bit like Pop and R.C. in that I don’t think JB believed I was going to leave,” Parker explains. “So then I called him again two or three days after that and told him: ‘I’m not saying this to get an offer for the Spurs to match. You give me an offer, and I’ll sign right away. I’m not even going to bring it to the Spurs.”

What’s funny is Parker said part of the reason he left had to do with him not wanting to finish the career on the bench as a third-string guard. He wanted to play. Then, the Spurs lost Dejounte Murray for the season to injury and Derrick White for a significant portion of time as well. The Spurs really could have used Parker this season.

That’s all in the past now though. Parker is in Charlotte and has been playing solid basketball. He’s gotten playing time, as he wanted, and is averaging 19 minutes per game. He’s of course not the dominant force he once was, but he’s contributing. The Hornets are in eighth place and he’s having an impact. For Parker, he got exactly what he wanted.

Steven Adams is a big dude. The Thunder big man is listed at 7’0 feet tall and weighing 250 pounds. Someone that big needs to eat a lot of food to maintain himself. That’s just how the human body works. Sow hat does Adams eat? Well, beef of course. What kind of beef? Who cares. It’s beef. Eat beef.

At least that’s the message from the Oklahoma Beef Council, who made a commercial featuring Adams to try and make people eat more beef. After all, the more beef they eat and buy the more likely they will become Steven Adams, is what the people will believe. Adams doesn’t say much in the commercial, but he uses his brief time to say how much he likes eating beef. He’ll “smash” that beef. Why? Because it tastes good. Preferably steaks by the sound of it. If you can understand his Kiwi accent.

That is the thickest New Zealand accent Adams has ever put on and it really adds to the charm of the commercial. Oklahoma could have picked anybody for this, but picking Adams was a stroke of genius. He has the perfect personality for this kind of commercial, and his gigantic size makes him the perfect spokesperson for beef.

The highlight of the spot is when he grabs a basketball that just says “beef” on it and nothing else. Beautiful. I think I’m going to get a steak now. I’ll make sure to smash that steak too. In honor of Adams.

Never make a bet that you can’t cash. Josh Hart knows this rule well and on Sunday, before the Lakers loss to the Cavaliers, he showed that. Hart grew up in the D.C. area and is a fan of the Washington Redskins. His former teammate, Larry Nance Jr. not only plays for Cleveland but grew up in Ohio, is a fan of the Browns.

So the two made a bet: Whichever player’s team had the better season, the other would have to wear a onesie of the opposing team. Well, Washington finished the season with a 7-9 record. Respectable considering the horrific injury that happened to quarterback Alex Smith midway through the season.

But that wasn’t enough to save Hart. The Browns made a strong push late in the season to finish 7-8-1. That’s right, the tie actually pushed the Browns ahead of Washington resulting in a hysterical walk in on Sunday night. Forget high fashion, Hart got to show off his comfortable side on the walk to the locker room.

To Hart’s credit, this could have been a lot worse for him. There’s nothing stylish about that onesie, but it’s a very simple orange one with just the singular Browns logo on the front. He could have been forced to wear something far uglier. All things considered, he escaped this one fairly unscathed.

What’s worse about this is that, before the season, he probably felt like this was a safe bet. The Browns had been reeling, and Hue Jackson was still the head coach. Meanwhile, Washington had playoff aspirations. Then the Browns turned their season around in a huge way and Washington fell apart. Tough loss for Hart. And Washington fans.

]]>https://uproxx.com/dimemag/lakers-josh-hart-cleveland-browns/feed/0josh hartThe Magic Closed On An 18-4 Run To Erase A 10-Point Deficit And Beat The Rocketshttps://uproxx.com/dimemag/magic-rockets-highlights-video-james-harden/
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Random losses happen throughout an 82-game NBA season and nothing proves that more than the Magic’s win over the Rockets on Sunday night.

Orlando is a team still trying to find itself. The Magic are on their third coach in four seasons, most of the same core, with a new GM and President. The Rockets meanwhile were one game away from the NBA Finals last season and have recently hit their stride behind MVP-caliber play from James Harden. These are two teams on completely different paths.

Yet, the Magic pulled out a win over the Rockets, convincingly at that. In the closing moments of the game, Orlando moved the ball with vigor, found open three-pointers, and just made better plays to close out the game. It was a rare sight from a very inconsistent team. What made it even weirder is, the Rockets had already built up a sizable lead in the fourth quarter. Midway through the fourth quarter, the Rockets led by 10 points. James Harden finished the game with 38 points. Austin Rivers chipped in 25. The Rockets typically win these games.https://twitter.com/HoustonRockets/status/1084609299261915142

The Vucevic dunk ended up being the start of a huge closing run by the Orlando offense. Houston’s defense was out of sorts. It would force the Magic to make the extra pass constantly, but never once were the Rockets able to close out the play. That ended up being their downfall.https://twitter.com/OrlandoMagic/status/1084619756353867776

Watch them begin a possession with D.J. Augustin and then methodically attack the Rockets switching defense. Eventually, the ball ends up back in the hands of Augustin on the other side of the floor and he works his way to an open 3-pointer. This was the story of the entire night and the Magic worked that defense to the tune of an 18-4 run to close the game and win by seven.

The Magic walked away victors and they did what was necessary to do that, but it’s rare to see the Rockets go into a full on meltdown like this. When the final buzzer sounded the Magic were dribbling out the ball comfortably.

There were multiple factors for why the Rockets ended up in this situation, but none were as large as Harden’s three-point shooting. Some guys have off nights, and Harden hit his during the worst possible. Despite an impressive scoring performance, he finished the game 1-for-16 from three-point range. If he makes even half those attempts then this probably isn’t a close game and the Rockets are walking away comfortable. Instead, the Magic were allowed to hang around and they stole a win.

When the Wizards were down to the Raptors 61-50 at halftime it felt like the game was already over. Washington looked horrible and at one point was down 51-28 early in the second quarter. Bradley Beal, the Wizards best healthy player, had 10 points on 14 shots. It was just that kind of day for the Wizards. All the Raptors needed to do was go into cruise control.

Then Beal happened. He came out into the second half with a fire about him. There’s taking over a game with scoring and then there’s taking over the way in which Beal did. Not only did he drop 30 points in the second half (21 in the fourth), but he added 10 assists on top of that. That ability to get others involved while keeping up his own scoring is so key for a Wizards team missing John Wall.

Then, with time running down in the fourth quarter, Kawhi Leonard dropped in a jumper to put the Raptors up three. It was the Wizards turn to answer and they managed to find Beal after completely whiffing their first attempt at a tie. Of course, he hit it, tying the game and sending it to overtime.

Beal continued to make plays in overtime. Despite having the entire Toronto defense’s attention on him, he still found ways to use his gravity. The Wizards found multiple open looks from the corner thanks to the defense closing in on Beal, but they struggled to convert. Once again, the Wizards needed Beal to save them and with less than 10 seconds left he delivered. He drove to the basket and got a look at the rim. He hit it and once again tied the game. The Raptors missed their game-winner attempt and off to double overtime it went!

Unfortunately for Beal it wasn’t enough. The second overtime was dominated by tired legs as both teams just scratched and clawed for anything. Beal finished the game with 43 points, 15 assists, and 10 rebounds in a double-overtime triple-double. It was an incredible effort on his part to bring Washington back from the brink of death. Just unfortunate for him that he came up short, but when you look at the other side it makes sense why.

Leonard was absolutely everywhere in the closing moments of the game whether it was defense, rebounds, or shotmaking. What he did can’t be understated and it helped the Raptors win a close 140-138 contest, with Serge Ibaka providing the dagger as he hit a three-pointer to go up 139-138 in the final seconds.

The Wizards won’t be seeking moral victories, but Beal continues to show he can be a leading man on a good and competitive team. The question moving forward will be whether that’s enough to dig out of the hole they created for themselves early in the season.

]]>https://uproxx.com/dimemag/wizards-raptors-bradley-beal-triple-double-kawhi-overtime-video-highlights/feed/0beal-look.jpgThe Spurs Took Down The Thunder In The NBA’s Game Of The Yearhttps://uproxx.com/dimemag/spurs-beat-thunder-double-overtime-lamarcus-aldridge-highlights-video/
https://uproxx.com/dimemag/spurs-beat-thunder-double-overtime-lamarcus-aldridge-highlights-video/#respondFri, 11 Jan 2019 06:18:25 +0000http://uproxx.com/?p=401689402

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Is it too early to call a winner for Game of the Year? Let’s hope not, but what the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder did on Thursday night might be the landslide winner at season’s end. This game, a 154-147 San Antonio win in double overtime, had everything: Stars like LaMarcus Aldridge and Russell Westbrook performed to their absolute best, the Spurs showed deadly efficiency, Jerami Grant had a breakout performance, and a whole lot more. It’s rare that a single game features so many storylines and near-endless excitement, but that’s what the NBA does best.

It was evident something special was brewing early on, because the Spurs quite literally could not miss from three. They started off the game shooting 14-for-14 from three-point range — for reference sake, the most three-pointers a team has made in a single game without a miss was seven. If the Spurs decided not to shoot a single three for the rest of the game after their 14th triple went in, they would have doubled the record.

That would have been enough to say this game was special, but a serious case can be made that this will finish as an all-time classic thanks to everything else that happened. For example, this performance is the most amount of points a Gregg Popovich coached team has ever scored.

An exciting game is one thing, but what put this one over the edge were the individual performances spread throughout. We’ll get to the player of the game in a sec, but let’s give a special shoutout to Derrick White. The Spurs’ 2017 first-round pick was thrust into a larger role this season when Tony Parker left for Charlotte and Dejounte Murray tore his ACL. He’s come through in a huge way, and Thursday was no different. White wasn’t afraid to take shots in big moments, finishing with 23 points, eight assists, five rebounds, a huge block, and the game-sealing steal.

For how great White was, Aldridge went off. The Spurs big man had a career-high 56 points and was near-unstoppable, especially after Thunder center Steven Adams hurt his ankle and Oklahoma City just had no one to guard him. Fadeaway to his right? Bang. Post up move on the left block? Money. Putbacks under the basket? Easy points.

Aldridge was active and accurate, and it paid off big time for San Antonio. His style can be a slog at times, but when he has it going, there aren’t many guys in the NBA who can stop him. Tonight, he was at his absolute best.

Beyond those two, Marco Belinelli dropped 19 points off the bench, DeMar DeRozan had 16 points, 11 assists, and eight rebounds in an off shooting night, and both Bryn Forbes and Patty Milles scored 14 points for the victors.

On the other side of things, Westbrook was a monster all night, finishing with a career-high 24 assists along with 24 points and 13 rebounds, because of course he had a triple-double. One of Westbrook’s best moments came late in the game when, using the sheer gravity that he pulls when the ball is in his hands, he attracted the entire defense his direction. This gave a streaking Grant a wide open lane to tie up the game and help force overtime.

Grant was phenomenal as well. He’s been a solid role guy for the Thunder all season and Thursday was a breakout moment for him. Grant’s a legit contributor for Oklahoma City, and longtime watchers of the Thunder probably already knew he was capable of a big game, but even they had to be surprised at him scoring 25 points and pulling down 12 rebounds on national television. Oh, and Paul George went for a quiet 30 points and eight rebounds, while Terrance Ferguson scored 21 points on seven made threes.

It seems unlikely that this game will be topped this season. In order to do that, we’ll need to see two teams throw haymakers and guys put forth career nights all over the place. Both squads scratched and clawed for 58 minutes with the hopes of coming out on top. In the end, Oklahoma City just ran out of gas, and San Antonio picked up a gargantuan win.

If there’s any consolation for the Thunder, though, it’s that both teams will face off again on Saturday. This time, it’s in Oklahoma City. Here’s to hoping everyone gets some sleep before then.

The Cavaliers no good, very bad season continues. They’re already the worst team in the NBA with only eight wins, but they’ve had to deal with injuries to key players like Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson throughout the season. Those injuries have only piled up with another key frontcourt piece going down this week.

On Thursday, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported that big man Larry Nance Jr. had suffered a sprained MCL. He’ll likely be out two weeks and, considering the type of season the Cavs are having, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him sit out even longer. The Cavs will need to find a way to suitably replace his minutes in the rotation.

Cleveland's Larry Nance has a sprained MCL an MRI revealed today, league source tells ESPN. He could miss two weeks, source said.

Nance has struggled this season with Cleveland due playing in a situation where he doesn’t have great guards to get him the ball in good situations. He isn’t the kind of player that can create on his own and as a defender, he’s stronger in a unit as opposed to being an individual anchor.

On the plus side for the Cavs, it’s not like their season was going smoothly anyways so they don’t need to rush Nance back. He can take his time to recover from injury and make a return at full health. The Cavs need to be focused on development. They also don’t want to risk further injuring a player they just signed to a four-year $48 million extension over the summer.

It’s that time of year. Stars across the league are making their case for why they should be in the NBA All-Star Game and are appealing to their fans for votes. Social teams are helping out with marketing campaigns, social media activity, and of course video.

The Trail Blazers recently made a video case for guard Damian Lillard to return to the All-Star Game. They want to get him the votes necessary to start in the game and with everybody campaigning it can be difficult to stand out.

So, the Blazers went a route that certainly is going to get attention. They’re going with old internet videos, and by old, I mean actually old. The references the Blazers use in their Lillard campaign are easily over 10 years old, but they are definitely classics.

…..what are you doing, @CJMcCollum? “Whatever I feel like I wanna do, GOSH!”

The opening to this is Lillard on a unicycle playing flaming bagpipes. A reference to a Portland resident that likes to take part in the “Keep Portland weird” campaigns. So this at least has significance to Portland in some way and is kind of goofy. The real blast from the past comes from C.J. McCollum. The Blazers secondary star dances on stage the same way Napoleon Dynamite did in the 2004 cult classic “Napoleon Dynamite.” He’s even wearing a “Vote for Damian” shirt in the same style as the “Vote for Pedro” shirts in the movie.

It’s a goofy video and McCollum’s dance routine is pretty spot on, but it is a bit bizarre that people are still making references to “Napoleon Dynamite” in 2019. That said, memes never die and while there’s probably a generation of voters too young to remember that movie, if it gets Lillard votes then mission accomplished.

On Wednesday the Bucks managed to defeat the Rockets 116-109 despite James Harden dropping 42 points and 11 rebounds on them. Slowing down Harden has been very difficult this season and for the Bucks it was no different, but Giannis Antetokounmpo did try out something nobody had seen before. If you can’t stop Harden from scoring then there’s only one thing to do and that’s blast him in the head with an errant pass.

Harden was, of course, okay, but you can’t say it didn’t have an impact on the Bucks eventual victory. Even if Harden was okay physically this surely gave the Bucks an edge on the mental side of the ball, not to mention the Rockets star went just 4-for-11 from the field after getting beaned by Giannis.

After the game, Harden was asked if he saw the pass coming. His response? “Hell no! That sh*t hurt.”

Harden is taking it all in good stride and laughing the pass off which is good. He understands that sometimes an errant pass happens and, if you’re in the way of that pass, you might have to take a shot to the face sometimes. He’s a tough guy that can definitely power through it.

Harden needs to watch out though. Other teams may think the secret to beating the Rockets is via throwing the basketball straight at his head and that could turn him into a target. On the plus side, if teams do try that he’ll be ready for it and can just start a fastbreak the other direction. Always keep your head on a swivel.

As Alabama gets set to take on Clemson in the College Football Playoff championship game one thing is for certain, these are the two best teams in the land. This season has proven to everybody that Clemson and Alabama were just stronger and better than the entire country. It’s rare to have the top two teams be so clearly better, but it does happen sometimes. Sometimes, a few years in a row.

It also could be the best example there is to avoid expanding the College Football Playoff. For now at least. The championship game might be about those two teams (again and again), but no one can pretend this isn’t going to be one of the most strongly debated discussion points leading into, during, and after the game is played. Who actually wins doesn’t matter as much as the matchup for the title is right.

It’s about if teams like Ohio State, UCF, and Georgia deserved a shot to prove that they should be playing in this game. With the Big 10 being left out of the playoff for the third year in a row, the Pac-12 missing out this season, and UCF going undefeated two years in a row it felt like there was a lot of momentum for change. Could expansion finally be on the way?

Talks for that were quickly shut down Monday by the playoff committee, though, as they made it clear: It’s not happening anytime soon. Via CBS Sports.

“As far as expanding the number of teams in the Playoff, it’s way too soon – much too soon – to know if that is even a possibility,” said board of managers president Mark Keenum. “It’s fair to say the speculation about expansion has outdistanced the reality of what the commissioners and the presidents have discussed. If a decision were to be made down the road, the Presidents would be the ones to make it and we are not there.”

This is a little disheartening to see them shut down the idea of even discussing expansion. The playoff has been extremely successful so far, but it’s clearly a flawed system that could use at least a few tweaks. Unfortunately, even with two major conferences and an undefeated G5 team put on the outside looking in, the committee just doesn’t seem interested in going down a path that includes more than four teams in the playoff. Not yet, anyway.

In the committee’s defense, the playoff could easily be expanded to eight teams and some of the same problems would arise with which team was more deserving than the others. There’s also the issue of adding more games, deciding what to do about conference championships, and making it all work in school calendars. Far more goes into the expansion process than just selecting four additional teams, you know.

That said, ever since the playoff was first conceived the idea of eight teams was floated out there. It feels like some day, at some point, there will be an eight-team playoff. It’s just a question of when rather than if. Once the schools all agree that an eight-team playoff is required then it’s going to happen. They will make it happen. For now, though, it’s not happening. In other words, we’ll see you all here again next season where we’ll talk about this all over again.

The Chargers managed to defeat the Ravens 23-17 in the AFC Wildcard game on Sunday. That win pushed the Chargers to Divisional Round where they will take on the New England Patriots. Unfortunately for them, that game will be played in cold, snowy Foxborough, Massachusetts instead of sunny Los Angeles.

Los Angeles finished the season with a 12-4 record and tied for first place with the division rival Chiefs. Unfortunately for them, they lost out on the division due to a tiebreaker with Kansas City and, as such, failed to earn home field advantage for the playoffs. Not winning the division not only cost the Chargers a first-round bye, but it pushed them all the way down to the 5-seed. The Chargers are almost guaranteed to not play a single game at home unless the Colts can run through the playoffs themselves and meet Los Angeles in the AFC Championship game. Only then will the Chargers be able to play a home game.

In most cases, this is just the Chargers getting unlucky. They had a great year at the same time as a division rival. It happens. However, Chargers tackle Russell Okung isn’t so sure about that. The Chargers had a chance to take the one seed in the regular season, but a loss to the Ravens of all teams put them on equal footing with the Chiefs.

Kansas City took care of its business and the Chargers were stuck with the 5-seed. According to Okung, this is what the NFL wanted, via ESPN.

“Roger Goodell doesn’t want us to come home,” Okung said. “That’s all I can say.”

The Chargers reached this point because of a loss, but they feel it also was due to some questionable refereeing in their loss to the Ravens. Is this part of some grand conspiracy by the NFL to keep the Chargers down? Probably not. Is the NFL probably happy that the Chargers will play at most a single home game in their own stadium? That’s certainly possible.

The Chargers don’t play their games inside a traditional NFL stadium, but instead a soccer stadium in Carson. This temporary home only seats 33,000 fans and is frequently taken over by opposing fanbases, so it’s not exactly the ideal venue for NFL postseason action.

For Okung, that lack of a real stadium has caused the NFL to put him and the Chargers on the toughest road possible to the Super Bowl. Between having to travel to Foxborough and hoping the Colts upset the Chiefs in Arrowhead, this all feels very unfair to the Chargers. Unfortunately for them, that’s just the hand they’ve been dealt.

]]>https://uproxx.com/sports/los-angeles-chargers-russell-okung-nfl-refs/feed/3ChargersDoc Rivers Invited Tom Thibodeau To Visit The Clippers, Just Like He Did With Ty Luehttps://uproxx.com/dimemag/doc-rivers-invites-tom-thibodeau-consult-clippers/
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On Sunday night, Tom Thibodeau was fired by the Timberwolves despite an impressive 108-86 win over the Lakers that same day. The Wolves must have finally felt it was time to move on from Thibodeau, who was both the head coach and president of the organization.

Why they waited until now to do it when they had a chance in October, at the peak of the Jimmy Butler drama, is anybody’s guess. But Butler is now a member of the Philadelphia 76ers and Thibs is officially out of a job. Don’t worry about Thibodeau being bored and not having anything to do, though. He’s a basketball lifer that will spend plenty of time diving into the game.

He also apparently has plans to help out Clippers coach Doc Rivers. The two used to work together back in Boston before Thibodeau became a head coach, and Rivers says he wants Thibs to come in on a consulting role. Rivers told reporters on Monday that Thibodeau has an open invite to join him in Los Angeles and help out the Clippers.

Doc Rivers said that he has extended an invite to Tom Thibodeau to visit with the Clippers and he expects Thibs to be around the team at some point in a similar capacity to Ty Lue.

He’s already had former Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue doing something similar for him. And this is a good way for Thibodeau to stay busy and keep himself in the NBA. He also might need to build up a little rapport around the league again after what may be categorized as a disastrous flameout in Minnesota. At no point with the Wolves did his defense come together and it felt like he had a hard time reaching the younger players on his roster. Maybe some time away from coaching, and just consulting, will help him connect better with where the league is going and give him a chance to evolve a little.

Thibodeau might also be able to help the Clippers with some of his old school tendencies. He helped Rivers form some of best defenses the NBA has ever seen when they were coaching together in Boston. If they can recapture even a little bit of that magic together then Los Angeles could become an even stronger force than it already is this season. Worst case, Thibs, and Rivers can just reminisce about having full control over teams and how it all went wrong for both in the end.

]]>https://uproxx.com/dimemag/doc-rivers-invites-tom-thibodeau-consult-clippers/feed/0tom-thibodeau.jpgRobert Covington Found Out He Was Traded To The Timberwolves On Twitterhttps://uproxx.com/dimemag/robert-covington-timberwolves-trade-social-media-elton-brand/
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Trades in the NBA happen. Every player understands this and they accept it. When Robert Covington was traded from the 76ers to the Timberwolves, as part of a package that netted the Sixers Jimmy Butler, he wasn’t distraught. He understood the business side of the league means this can happen. But it would be inaccurate, however, to say he wasn’t blindsided by the news, because how Covington found out he was traded was a cardinal sin.

Covington saw the news that he was about to be packaged for Butler when he saw a link with his name on it on social media. Yes, Covington found out he had been traded through social media. Not a team employee, a coach, or Sixers GM Elton Brand. He found out on his phone. To be clear he was eventually contacted, but the news was old to him at that point.

“I found out on social media,” he said. “It was like five minutes before the team meeting, then Brett [Brown, the Sixers’ coach] called me and EB [general manager Elton Brand] called me, but I already knew. By then it was already out there. That’s how I found out.”

Players expect trades to happen, but it’s an easier blow to take when the information is given to them by the people they trust. Namely, their coaches and the team itself. Finding out through a report on something like Twitter or Facebook has to be disheartening for the athlete. It tells them that the information was more important to give details to a reporter first than the player themselves.

But despite this, Covington doesn’t have any hard feelings toward the team. He does believe that the way Sixers delivered the news was very cold though. And he hasn’t spoken to Brand since he learned he was no longer a Sixer.

He said that when Brown called him, the conversation was cold and simple. He was told that he’d been packaged in a trade for Butler. That was all.

“It was really clear-cut and dry,” he said of the phone call. “As far as having that respect level, and for how much we’d been through, I would have thought it had to be completely different, but it wasn’t. Considering how much time relationship-wise and everything that went down. … It was weird.”

…

“It probably was cold,” Brand said of the split with Covington. “I would talk to those guys about anything and everything … and now we don’t talk anymore. With my new role and my new job, it’s tough to make those decisions. The relationship is real, but it’s tough because it becomes transactional. I can see how he would think it was cold, for sure.”

The Sixers should have done a better job about not letting the information of the trade get out until they had informed all their players. Organizations should never allow players to find out they’ve been traded through social media. It’s just not good business practice. That said, it’s not a surprise that Brand doesn’t talk to any of his former players anymore. There’s no reason to do so. Most people don’t talk to their former bosses when they leave their job, right? Why should it be any different in the NBA?

Shaquille O’Neal is the latest athlete to show his support for the family of Jazmine Barnes. A 7-year old girl, Barnes was killed in a drive-by shooting at 7 a.m. in the Houston area while in the car with her mother. Her mother also suffered injuries in the incident but survived the shooting.

O’Neal was apparently moved by the tragedy and will reportedly pay for the funeral expenses of Barnes. CNN reported that the former NBA star, and current TNT analyst, brought a check to the family last week. He was also seen in a tweet posing for a picture with Houston police officer Kenneth Miles.

O’Neal isn’t the only athlete to show his support for Barnes family. Houston Texans star wide receiver, DeAndre Hopkins, gave pledged to give his entire playoff check to the Barnes family. He tweeted out his support of Barnes family and related to it with seeing his own daughter.

When I see Jazmine Barnes' face, I see my own daughter. I'm pledging my playoff check this week to help her family with funeral costs and to support @shaunking @SherriffED_HCSO @SylvesterTurner in bringing this man to justice. On Saturday, I will be playing in your honor, Jazmine pic.twitter.com/oCRYSgfGO9

According to CNN, Hopkins made $29,000 for the Texans game against the Colts on Saturday. All that money will go to Barnes family for funeral expenses, hospital bills, and anything else the family needs as they deal with the tragic loss of a child. Hopkins won’t have a chance to donate another game check, however, as the Texans lost to the Colts 21-7 on Saturday, ending their playoff run.

With the way the Lakers are struggling right now maybe, Kobe Bryant should consider coming out of retirement. Well OK, that isn’t going to happen, but would it shock anybody if he played a few games just to give the Lakers some bodies to work with? Los Angeles has lost five of its last six games since Christmas. During that span of games LeBron James, Javale McGee, Kyle Kuzma, and Rajon Rondo have all missed time due to injury.

Some fans are beginning to grow frustrated. They want to see results from their young players like Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball. These guys are supposed to be the future, right, so where’s the progress? The resulting struggles have made some call to fire Luke Walton.

And even Bryant seems frustrated. On Sunday, after the Lakers lost 108-86 to the Wolves, Kobe tweeted out his general frustration with the loss. But when a fan suggested the removal of Walton, Kobe told them that the fans needed to chill out.

Bryant isn’t wrong that the Lakers were playing far better when they were healthy, as most teams do. He’s also right that Lakers fans need to relax and not go into full on panic mode because of a single bad stretch of games. A lot is being put on to the shoulders of guys like Ball and Ingram to produce when they’re still young and developing. And it’s unfair to expect them to play like stars and for Walton to bring out the best of a roster that is missing some of its most key pieces.

Of course, while Bryant is taking the long view, there is a legitimate concern to be had with the Lakers depth if it can’t handle injuries. Losing James is one thing, but there’s been a constant theme with them this season. Someone is injured and the player stepping up isn’t quite good enough. That’s a problem that needs to be addressed whether it’s through trades or signing new players next offseason.

]]>https://uproxx.com/dimemag/kobe-bryant-wants-fans-relax-despite-lakers-losing/feed/0kobe-bryant.jpgSteph Curry Traveled On A Stepback And Gave A Shout Out To James Hardenhttps://uproxx.com/dimemag/steph-curry-james-harden-stepback-travel-13-video/
https://uproxx.com/dimemag/steph-curry-james-harden-stepback-travel-13-video/#commentsSun, 06 Jan 2019 18:14:11 +0000http://uproxx.com/?p=401681716

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Steph Curry is pretty unstoppable once he has the ball in his hands. Give him an inch and he’ll pull up from anywhere on the court. This danger in his skillset has helped the Warriors become one of the deadliest offenses in the NBA. When Curry gets going it can put the Warriors on a run that will bury anybody.

There’s one other player in the NBA that seems unguardable in the same way as Curry and that’s James Harden. Unlike Curry though, Harden is more about the details in his moves. He draws fouls, uses subtle contact, and creates space in a different way. If Curry is finesse then Harden is power. Harden also has a step back move that, while deadly, many consider a travel.

Curry decided to bring that move in Saturday night’s 127-123 victory over the Kings but was called for a travel. Curry, obviously noticing the double standard, decided to give a shoutout to the Rockets star guard.

Steph Curry traveled on a Harden-style stepback, and he shouted out Harden's uniform number right after pic.twitter.com/BrltixuDZd

I think the key difference here is the speed at which the stepbacks occurred. Harden moves his feet so quickly that the refs don’t always catch the extra steps. Curry, on the other hand, takes big giant steps that are much more noticeable. One of Harden’s best skills is how much he’s able to get away with and the ways in which he draws contact. It’s why he’s so good at what he does. Of course, when he travels and gets away with it, that’s frustrating for the rest of the league.

Which is why it’s hilarious that when Curry gets called for a move that was clearly out of Harden’s playbook he held up Harden’s number. He knows what he did. It’s a great troll move. Let’s hope Harden does a Curry move in his next game and does something similar.

Now that 2019 is here, it’s time to start thinking about the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award. The usual suspects are on the list of early candidates: James Harden, Steph Curry, LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, etc. Then there are few newcomers, too, like Paul George and Giannis Antetokounmpo. It’s an unsurprisingly stacked field early in the season that will thin out as the year goes on.

However, in the general conversation, one name that absolutely needs to be thrown around has missing: Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic.

He’s, of course, getting his due praise in the city of Denver. He gets chants, Nuggets fans go to war for him on the internet, and he’s putting up some pretty insane numbers going for 18 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 7.6 assists per game. Perhaps even more important than that is the team success, because while it would be one thing if Jokic was doing this for a mediocre team, the Nuggets surprisingly sit atop the Western Conference. Team success is a huge factor in the MVP award, and Jokic has spearheaded his team’s success.

So where is his push? Jokic rang in the new year with a 115-108 victory over the Knicks, a game in which he had 19 points, 15 assists, and 14 rebounds. The home fans gave him praise, and everyone spoke about his performance like it was nothing special, because anyone who watches him would know this is what Jokic just does.

“The game just came to me,” Jokic said. “In the first quarter I didn’t score that much, in the first half I kind of find of my teammates. … I really don’t know. Everything is not that hard.”

None of this means that Jokic should be the favorite to win the award or anything, as definite flaws exist in his game. He started off the year defending well, but he’s regressed a little as the season has gone on. He will occasionally try to do too much and get a little turnover happy. He’s not the fastest guy out there, and good teams know to exploit that. It’s possible he’s not in the race by the end of the year, but the problem is that he’s not even considered a candidate at a point when anybody playing well is usually given at least a chance at the award. What does Jokic have to do to earn that same kind of buzz?

For starters, Jokic doesn’t talk himself up too much. He told the Denver Post that “everything is not that hard,” which is an amazing statement. So much of what Jokic does is viewed as something that’s easy and natural for him, as evidenced by him saying he wants to take things “step-by-step” in terms of the MVP award. Jokic needs to embrace his chances — talk himself up at a press conference, show some swagger, that sort of stuff. The NBA is a 24/7 league, and once the clock hits zero, Jokic kinda fades into the background.

The rest of it falls on the team. The Nuggets look legitimate despite injuries to some key players, and Jokic has been their best player as they sit atop the cutthroat Western Conference in January. Does anybody outside of Denver who isn’t a hoops die hard know this? Denver isn’t going to to get the most attention nationally, so they need to make people pay attention. Winning is a great way to do this, but again, an MVP push has to have more than this.

Ultimately, Jokic probably won’t win MVP. It’s also hard to see the Nuggets finishing the season as the No. 1 team in the West, but they’re at a point right now where they should at least be in the conversation. Instead, the Nuggets and Jokic feel anonymous, and that needs to be fixed.

]]>https://uproxx.com/dimemag/nikola-jokic-mvp-chants-denver-nuggets/feed/2nikola jokicAndy Bernstein Tells Us How His Obsession With Photography Led To A Book With Kobe Bryanthttps://uproxx.com/dimemag/andy-bernstein-kobe-bryant-photographs-lakers-los-angeles/
https://uproxx.com/dimemag/andy-bernstein-kobe-bryant-photographs-lakers-los-angeles/#respondMon, 31 Dec 2018 21:00:00 +0000http://uproxx.com/?p=401660624

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Imagine, for a moment, that you just witnessed one of the greatest moments in sports history, the kind of thing that you could tell right away will be remembered forever; Ray Allen’s three-pointer in Game 6, Kirk Gibson’s home run in the World Series, LeBron James Game 7 block, Dwight Clark’s catch, etc. There’s a mental image that becomes associated with that moment, something that you really can only see.

For legendary photographer Andy Bernstein, all of these moments are viewed through a camera lens. He sees them, sure, but he doesn’t get a chance to take them in until later on when he’s going through the film. That’s the life of a photographer, one in which the objective is to capture what is taking place.

“When you push the button, the shutter opens and closes in that instant, that millisecond it is recording that moment in time.” Bernstein told Dime. “If I’m seeing that moment in time through the viewfinder, through the lens, or even God forbid just taking my eye off of the camera, and then I missed it. It will never happen again and that moment is gone. I can’t recreate it. I can’t ask him to do it again.”

Bernstein is an action photographer. The moments he captures are quick and can be over in an instant. It’s what makes so much of his work so impressive. Go through a database of photos of the average NBA game, you’ll get a shot here and there of someone dunking, but the majority are still frame moments from a break in the action.

He loves capturing dunks and the jubilation someone feels immediately after winning a title. His most iconic moment? There’s plenty, but one moment probably stands above it all.

“Kirk Gibson hits the home run in [19]88.” Bernstein says. “Something that told me before that ninth inning, ‘You know what? You better just get your wide angle lens and clash together and another camera to put it next to, because you know something could happen in the bottom of the ninth, it’s a World Series game. I was the first one at home plate that got there when Kirk touched home plate. I got there before the rest of the team, and that’s my picture of him high fiving Orel Hershiser at home plate that was on the cover of … I think it was the Sporting News or something that week.”

Not only did Bernstein capture what ended up being an iconic moment, but there was a personal connection to Gibson’s homer. Growing up in New York, Bernstein’s family of Dodgers fans felt betrayed when the team left Brooklyn for Los Angeles. It wasn’t until Bernstein took a job with the team as their photographer that his family flipped back to loving the franchise — his Dad told him the happiest moment of his life was when he got hired to be the Dodgers team photographer.

The Gibson home run is a perfect example of what made Bernstein’s action shots so impressive: He was always ready.

“If I hadn’t (been ready) and Kirk hits that home run, I’d be fumbling around putting lenses on cameras, loading film,” Bernstein says. “And then by the time I get out there, that moment is completely done, preparation, attention to detail, knowledge of your craft and your equipment. You have to have a sixth sense as to what is going to happen and what you’re going to do to get there. So all of those things combined add up to years and years of experience of being in those situations”

Bernstein speaks in a very professional manner until you ask him about his craft and his work. The shield comes down briefly and a little bit of excitement can be heard in his voice. It’s obvious that photography is his passion, but he brings an intensity and an eagerness to master his craft that is reminiscent of some athletes. In fact, Bernstein recently wrote a book with an athlete: Kobe Bryant.

“Kobe has a great quote where he says if you’re not obsessed with what you do, we don’t speak the same language,” Bernstein says. “He and I honestly have been speaking the same language since that first day we met, through this sort of unsaid bonding over our obsession to what we do.”

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While Bernstein is most well known for his action shots, it’s his relationship with the athletes he shoots that sets him apart. Photographers are anonymous, they need to get in and out without being seen. When you know a photographer is there, that usually means they’re doing something wrong. As a result, it should be very difficult to form relationships with athletes, but Bernstein has built up a trust with athletes like Kobe over the years.

Bernstein being able to build these relationships has gotten him exclusive photos of not just Bryant, but Chris Paul and Blake Griffin after the birth of Lob City, and Shaquille O’Neal shortly after he arrived to the Lakers, and NASCAR legend Jeff Gordon. Being able to connect with people is a skill, and it’s something Bernstein has mastered.

“I’m not there to make them look bad in any way, shape, or form.” Bernstein says. “But I think they appreciate that, and as my career has gone on and on, the guys who have come in later recognized that, hey, this guy’s legit, he shot [Michael] Jordan, he shot Magic [Johnson], he did this behind the scenes stuff with Kobe. So it’s kind of like a built-in cache that I have now.”

Bernstein has experienced so many different great athletes in his career, but when it came time to make a book with his photos, he knew exactly who he had in mind. Bryant was different, making it an obvious choice for him.

“I’m fortunate to be around this iconic athlete, Kobe Bryant from his entire career, from fresh-faced rookie at 18 when I first met him to retirement after his final game, which was an epic storybook finish,” Bernstein recalls. “In the 20 years in between is probably close to half a million or so photos. So as he was approaching retirement, I was thinking about how there was this big archive material house at the NBA archives in New Jersey that really hasn’t seen light a day, only the tip of the iceberg. It’s never been published, and wouldn’t it be cool to kind of give fans of Kobe a chance to see everything else or at least some of it?”

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The Mamba Mentality could best be summarized as the penultimate moment for Bernstein’s relationship with Bryant. The future Hall of Fame inductee is going to have dozens of books written about him over the rest of his life, but none of them are going to feature the exclusive photos that only Bernstein can provide.

“I approached Kobe about doing a book, kind of a coffee table book.” Bernstein says. “He listened and he was very respectful, but he said, ‘You know what? If we’re going to do a book together, I’m happy to collaborate and want to collaborate with you, but we’re going to do the kind of book I want to do.’ I said, ‘Okay, that sounds great. What do you got in mind?’ And The Mamba Mentality was born at that moment.”

Bernstein has built relationships with stars across the world of sports, proving that he will get the best shots at the perfect moments. From Magic Johnson to LeBron James, he’s seen it all, but no one has connected with him quite like Bryant.

“I saw a lot in him that I could really relate to, even though I was 20 years older than him and still am, but more than anything, it’s his obsession, and that’s really the root of the Mamba Mentality concept,” Bernstein says. “This obsession to his craft, I did all of that, too, in my craft. So we are both obsessed and I guess we recognize that in each other without even having to say it.”

That obsession is why Bernstein is a legend of photography, and when he says he didn’t see a great moment take place with his own eyes, you know it’s because he was busy taking a photo that no one will ever forget.

Must a team meeting always be such a bad thing? When the Detroit Pistons sat down with each other to discuss their blowout loss to the Indiana Pacers on Friday, it was done so with good intentions. They wanted to communicate what went wrong and how to fix them. This should be business as usual right?

“I’ve been in meetings on every team.” Jose Calderon told Dime. “Meetings that sometimes the media knows about. Sometimes they don’t. You have meetings after practice sometimes cause you need it. That doesn’t mean it’s bad or you need to worry … Sometimes people think when there’s a team meeting, ‘Oh there’s trouble, there’s problems, guys don’t like each other.’ It could be that in some situations, in this case it’s totally the opposite.”

The problem for Detroit is that, despite all good intentions of the meeting, it came at a time when things are very obviously not okay. After a 13-7 start to the season, the Pistons have crumbled and lost 11 of their last 13 games. They finished out 2018 on Sunday with a loss to Orlando that easily could have been avoided. The Magic were bruised and vulnerable, and the Pistons walked into Orlando one month earlier and closed out a win. It shouldn’t have been any different this time.

Orlando was without Jonathon Simmons after he injured his ankle early in the game, and D.J. Augustin was hobbling around late due to an ankle injury himself. The Magic were clearly trying to avoid relying on their bench too much, as it had been a major weak point for them all season. The Pistons exploited this and, despite their starters being largely outplayed, clawed back from every deficit. With less than 10 seconds to go they were in a position to force a turnover, or foul, and get the ball back. They brain farted.

But the Magic handed it right back to them. On the next possession, Orlando fouled the jump shooter, and three Reggie Bullock free throws tied the game. Detroit could win it in overtime with just one more stop, but instead, they forgot to cover Evan Fournier.

Miscommunications like this plague teams that are losing. For Detroit, this loss couldn’t have come at a worse time. The Pistons have to travel to Milwaukee on Tuesday and then they face seven Western Conference teams in a row, including a trip out to California.

By the time the Pistons have another game you’d argue is truly “winable,” the Magic once again on January 16, they theoretically could be in the midst of a 10-game losing streak. None of those games are gimmes for this Pistons team. This doesn’t mean they can’t win them, but the great teams need easy wins to survive the harder stretches. Those are the teams that make the playoffs.

To the Pistons’ credit, they say they aren’t panicking. Even after the tough loss, most players were speaking optimistically about the future. They know they can play better and they believe that they’re going to turn things around.

“Our chances are really high,” Langston Galloway told Dime. “We got a lot of different talent around the room. I think that’s the main thing that coach Casey has been preaching. Just stay locked in and push forward no matter what’s going on.”

That doesn’t mean, however, that it will be easy.

“It’s so difficult,” Stanley Johnson told Dime. “Cause sometimes you play a perfect game and you still lose. Sometimes you think, like, ‘What did we do wrong? We didn’t do sh*t wrong. We just lost.’ They went for 50. Sorry. Tonight is not your night. Just learning how to stay with your system and stay with what you’re taught in practice day to day is how you learn how to win at a high level is what I believe.”

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This isn’t the first time the Pistons have started hot only to falter later on — it happened multiple times under former head coach Stan Van Gundy. While Van Gundy had to deal with injuries, there was also a sense, based on media reports at the time, that he was losing the locker room. Dwane Casey, on the other hand, has his players thinking positive.

“One thing you don’t want to do in (this) situation is lose confidence,” Casey said. “I think that’s the first thing that wanes. You say ‘oh woe is me, same thing happened last year’ and all that. You lose confidence. You got to maintain that confidence in this league or teams will oblige you and take it away from you.”

The Pistons are losing, but that confidence and positivity is keeping them going. They aren’t turning into a locker room that’s quit on themselves. Casey’s strongest strength as a coach is keeping a locker room together. For years in Toronto, he took a rotating cast of players and found ways to get wins out of them.

In Detroit, he’s still trying to find the balance of Blake Griffin, Reggie Jackson, and Andre Drummond. There are moments where it looks like it’s all coming together, then there are times, like now, where it feels like Detroit would be better off starting over. It’s just important to remember that this team is still getting used to each other.

“This is the first season with Blake Griffin,” Johnson said. “First season semi-healthy. Just the additions. We were missing a lot of the veteran people. We got Zaza [Pachulia] and Jose and bring a veteran mind to the game which is really really helpful. Now we have a complete team. You wanna have veterans, young guys, established players still in their prime. We have that here now. Now it’s just getting used to going out consistently and beating people’s asses consistently. You have to get used to winning a lot.

“We haven’t learned (how to win) the last couple years.” Johnson continued. “Having a guy like Zaza here that has won at a high level and understands that, ‘Alright guys we need to take it to another level now. This is what better teams do.’ Given that perspective for us, people like me a young guy that doesn’t really know how to win it’s been really beneficial for us.”

The Pistons are managing to stay positive during what could be the toughest part of their season. They’re playing a lot of tough teams and injuries have hit them at a bad time, but they’re saying the right things. It’s easy to forget how much of this roster and coaching staff is still trying to implement systems and find an identity, which takes time.

Lucky for the Pistons, they’re in the East. Despite all these losses, Detroit hasn’t even fallen out of the playoff race yet. There’s still time to pull everything together, but the clock is ticking. This spiral needs to end, or panic will eventually, inevitably, set in.

]]>https://uproxx.com/dimemag/detroit-pistons-struggling-december-dwane-casey/feed/0blake griffinThe Kings Beat The Lakers On A Game-Winning Three By Bogdan Bogdanovic At The Buzzerhttps://uproxx.com/dimemag/kings-lakers-bogdan-bogdanovic-game-winner-video/
https://uproxx.com/dimemag/kings-lakers-bogdan-bogdanovic-game-winner-video/#respondFri, 28 Dec 2018 05:50:25 +0000http://uproxx.com/?p=401671705

Sacramento Kings/YouTube

The Sacramento Kings did it again. Despite being down to the Los Angeles Lakers by double-digits in the fourth quarter, Sacramento clawed its way back into the game and put itself in a position to win, because that is what the Kings do, they fight every minute and should never be considered completely out of any contest.

Of course, fighting back into a game is one thing, actually winning it is the hard part. Los Angeles led the Kings by two points with less than five seconds remaining, but the Kings had the ball and knew who they wanted to give it to immediately: sharpshooter Bogdan Bogdanovic. Sacramento executed the inbounds to perfection and Bogdanovic nailed a shot with no time left.

The Kings are such a blast this year. Not only do they scratch and claw every game regardless of the score, they’re filled to the brim with legitimately fun players. For example, De’Aaron Fox dropped a no-look pass at one point that fooled the entire Lakers defense.

Fox is flanked by guys like Bogdanovic, who will just let shots fly without a second thought, and there’s athleticism throughout the Kings roster. This has all come together to make Sacramento one of the NBA’s biggest surprises and has turned them into must-watch TV for any basketball fan. Pay attention to the Kings! Do it now! Don’t miss out on a moment like this again.

]]>https://uproxx.com/dimemag/kings-lakers-bogdan-bogdanovic-game-winner-video/feed/0bogi.jpgAnthony Davis May Be The Next NBA Star To Take A Short-Term Deal To Control His Destinyhttps://uproxx.com/dimemag/anthony-davis-pelicans-contract-rumors/
https://uproxx.com/dimemag/anthony-davis-pelicans-contract-rumors/#respondThu, 27 Dec 2018 20:30:00 +0000http://uproxx.com/?p=401669319

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The Pelicans lost again on Wednesday and that was enough to push them down to 14th in the West, only ahead of the lowly Suns in the standings. They’re only four games back of the playoffs, but that hasn’t stopped the concerns from piling up. The majority of those concerns are about the future of Anthony Davis, and how a poor showing this year could push him out.

The Pelicans big man is fully expected to receive an offer for a supermax contract extension this summer. If Davis turns that deal down then many believe that will be the unofficial start to his free agency and New Orleans will be forced to explore trades

The supermax is the best offer New Orleans has right now. The roster isn’t championship caliber and right now even the playoffs aren’t a guarantee. It’s hard to keep a star around in those kinds of conditions. Of course, Davis has yet to even hint at what kind of decision he might make in the future. Trade demand? Free agency? Actually taking the supermax? Nobody knows. Zach Lowe of ESPN says many teams expect Davis to pass on the supermax contract, but that does not mean Davis plans to lock in long term elsewhere.

“Davis’ representatives surely know how close they can get to supermax money by cycling through short-term deals until Davis locks in the largest long-term contract — a strategy interested teams expect Davis to follow, sources say.”

For those unfamiliar with this contract strategy, look at the contract structure LeBron James and Kevin Durant have taken over the last few years prior to James inking a four-year deal in L.A. Under the current CBA, the max salary for a player like Davis, currently in his seventh NBA season, with a team that isn’t the Pelicans is 30 percent of the salary cap. When he hits 10 years of service in the NBA, that jumps to 35 percent. With a potentially rising salary cap and that jump in percentage once he hits the 10-year mark, Davis is likely to make even more money by waiting it out on short-term max deals for a year or two than if he were to just take the first max deal thrown his way.

That contract structure makes the Pelicans life difficult. If Davis agrees to the short-term contract plan with them then they’re just going to be in a constant state of pressure to compete, because he can go get that kind of contract from almost anybody he chooses to. So it’s in their best interest to convince Davis to take the supermax extension, but that also means becoming a perennial contender in a very short time frame. That might be impossible.

So what do the Pelicans do if Davis does pass on the supermax extension? Well, they can go down with the ship and hope that they’ve built enough of something by the time his contract ends that he agrees to take short-term deals with them, or they can trade him. The trade option is tough for a small market like this. You don’t just trade away a once in a generation talent, but you also don’t want to lose him for nothing. There’s no right decision here, because there are plenty of risks with any approach they take. That’s not something the Pelicans want, but they may have to accept it.

The Warriors were blown out on Christmas, and despite having the best record in the West, it’s still leading to some concern. This hasn’t been an easy start for Golden State. The Warriors have, for once, looked mortal. Kevin Durant and Draymond Green feuded and that led to Green being suspended. Durant continues to upset the entire world, including LeBron James, with podcast and social media comments. Then, of course, there’s the usual stuff with basketball fans claiming the Warriors ruined the NBA by forming possibly the greatest collection of talent ever.

Steve Kerr is getting tired of this. He’s used to handling the drama that comes with being on historically great teams. He did play with Michael Jordan, but that doesn’t make all of the criticism any less exhausting. Still, he knows that he can’t let the criticism and drama sink into the team. If that happens then all that will follow is a team sinking. Kerr is doing his best to avoid that.

“The bar’s been set high,” Kerr said after Wednesday’s practice. “I told our guys that; I gave them that line today. You guys have set the bar really high. So everything takes on a little greater sense of urgency in terms of what happens around the team. We’re maybe the most scrutinized team in the history of the league. We’re right there with the Bulls teams that I played on… It doesn’t matter. What matters is how you respond to a bad loss, to a bad stretch, to injuries. As long as you keep responding, keep showing up to work, keep sticking together, keep working, good things are going to happen. That’s what I believe with this group.”

Calling the Warriors the most scrutinized team in the league wouldn’t be a stretch. After all, everybody wants to take a shot at the champs, but the most scrutinized team in the history of the league? That take might be a little harder to defend. This team is receiving tons of attention there’s no doubt about that, but just in recent memory alone, we have the LeBron James Heat teams. The Dwight Howard and Kobe Bryant Lakers. The entirety of LeBron James’ return to Cleveland. Teams that had non-stop media attention and were placed under microscopes to be analyzed to the smallest detail.

Although to be fair, the Warriors have gotten just as much attention as those teams. They’ve just dodged the criticism by winning. It doesn’t matter how much criticism you receive as long as you win titles. So it’s hard to compare. Maybe when the Warriors start losing some playoff games, we’ll get a better idea of how scrutinized they really are.

]]>https://uproxx.com/dimemag/steve-kerr-warriors-drama-criticism/feed/0steve-kerr-stephen-curry.jpgBen Simmons And Donovan Mitchell Set The Bar For Rookie Of The Year Raceshttps://uproxx.com/dimemag/ben-simmons-donovan-mitchell-76ers-jazz-rookie-of-the-year/
https://uproxx.com/dimemag/ben-simmons-donovan-mitchell-76ers-jazz-rookie-of-the-year/#commentsThu, 27 Dec 2018 19:30:00 +0000http://uproxx.com/?p=401667960

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The Rookie of The Year Award doesn’t matter. As Deandre Ayton and Luka Doncic establish themselves as clear frontrunners this season, we also have to acknowledge that the award means nothing in the grand scheme of their careers. It doesn’t give them an immediate pay raise on their contracts, nor is the award isn’t a predictor. Michael Carter-Williams won it in 2013 over Victor Oladipo. Giannis Antetokounmpo didn’t even make the top three.

Despite that, the 2018 Rookie of the Year race took a largely pointless award and made it matter. It was a perfect storm — here was Ben Simmons, the rookie who was also not a rookie, running away with the honor on a Sixers team that found itself ahead of schedule. Joel Embiid was already proving to be a star, but Philadelphia’s roster was still young and needed time to grow. Simmons stepped in and exceeded expectations immediately, demolishing smaller players and running the break with ease. He could feast down low while Embiid could pop out high, creating one of the NBA’s most unique duos.

From the start of the season, it was clear just how much better Simmons was than the group of rookies against whom he played. Maybe it was thanks to sitting out a year due to injury and getting a chance to take in the game — Simmons had spent a year around the NBA, while the rest of the rookies did not get that luxury. Of course, Simmons didn’t really see that as a major advantage.

“It’s so funny reading comments and stuff like that saying I’m not a rookie.” Simmons told Dime last season before a game against the Magic. “I had an extra year, but at the same time, it’s difficult to come back from an injury and be better than you were before, and having that extra year kinda helped to an extent. At the same time, you don’t really have that preparation until you hit the floor and actually compete against guys in the NBA.”

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It was the extra year that created this weird opportunity for a second rookie to enter the fray. In came Donovan Mitchell, the young guard and a “true” rookie out of Louisville. Like Simmons, he burst onto the scene as one of the best players of an upstart team. Utah was expected to take a step back after Gordon Hayward left for Boston, and instead, Mitchell came in and led the team in scoring. He had the ball in his hands whenever the Jazz needed a bucket and even added to his own emerging stardom by winning the Dunk Contest.

What was originally Simmons’ award to lose became a topic of discussion. Both players rose to the occasion: Simmons dropped 27 points on the LeBron James-led Cavaliers with 15 rebounds and 12 assists, only for Mitchell to respond with 22 points in 26 minutes of a Jazz blowout over the Warriors. These two were battling for playoff positioning, and as individuals, they battled each other for the award.

Did it partly become A Thing because fans and the media spoke about it extensively? You could certainly argue that, but we eventually learned how much winning the award meant to the two guys. Take, for instance, this fashion choice by Mitchell.

For Mitchell, this little clothing stunt resulted in an explosion for his own personal brand. Did he embrace the chance to be petty and wear a hoodie that took a shot at his rival for the award? Yes. It was also a perfect marketing opportunity for Adidas. They were able to take the Jazz’s young budding star and make him a part of their brand. They could sell “Rookie?” merchandise and fans of Mitchell would go out and buy it. That must have been successful because Mitchell now has his own signature shoe line through Adidas. It’s not a direct correlation, but an argument can be made that this race is what led to Mitchell’s eventual shoe deal.

Being Rookie of the Year meant something to these two, which is exactly why for the first time in 22 years, the race for the award was actually exciting. Simmons and Mitchell wanted it, which was reflected in how they played on the court for playoff teams and how they carried themselves off of it. Despite the fact that Simmons ran away with it in the end, the last time the award was this exciting was when Jason Kidd and Grant Hill split it following the 1994-95 NBA season. Even then, those two were on bad teams that didn’t even sniff the playoffs. Simmons and Mitchell, meanwhile, backed up their individual brilliance by playing major roles in the success of the team overall.

That exact reason is why it’s hard to look at the current Rookie of the Year race and get the same level of excitement. Doncic is insane, he is arguably the best player on the Mavericks and Dallas is in the playoff hunt, even if they might not get there in the end.

Ayton’s main problem is he’s on a bad basketball team. The Suns are one win ahead of the worst record in the NBA, and even though Ayton is putting up phenomenal numbers, doing it on a subpar team can be written off as empty calories. This doesn’t mean he has no chance at winning the award over Doncic, but the added subplot of “young guys leading great teams” isn’t there. This is your run of the mill Rookie of the Year race, which illustrates why Simmons vs. Mitchell was so special.

Those two set the bar at an impossibly high level. For now until the end of time, we’re going to compare how the race for Rookie of the Year compared to this one. Ben Simmons and Donovan Mitchell caught lightning in a bottle, and if that never happens again, at least we had their battle in 2018.

One thing Damian Lillard has been blessed with in Portland is the massive support the city has for the Trail Blazers. Anybody from that city will speak about what the Blazers mean to the community and how attending a game is like a right of passage for fans. Which is why for Lillard, an Oakland native, it’s disappointing to see the Warriors price out die-hard fans due to their massive success.

The Warriors and Oakland used to go hand in hand. When Golden State was winning there were few arenas louder or more fun to be around. That held true until the last few seasons when the Warriors became more than just champions.

As the Warriors won their brand became similar to that of the Lakers, or the LeBron James era Heat in Miami. It was just as important to be seen at the Warriors game as it was to actually watch it. Ticket prices rose and soon the team will be moving to San Francisco for the 2019-20 season.

“They’re upset about it. It’s one of those things where success comes and you’re going to up and move,” Lillard said. “A lot of the real Warriors fans, a lot of times they can’t go to the games. They can’t afford it. At that time, we were able to go to the games. Nowadays, a really good ticket is way more expensive to do everything. The people who are real Warriors fans aren’t able to get into the games.”

Lillard grew up in Oakland so he knows what the Warriors meant to that city and community. He still has friends and family that live there that he can talk to. He also has his own experiences. It has to be painful to see what was once such a proud fanbase reduced to being just another brand item for people to show up at. This will likely only get worse with the move to San Francisco in the future.

It’s hard to see the Warriors ever becoming that same level of rabid fanbase they were in the past. It’s also a double-edged sword. Golden State has become this global, iconic brand because it’s winning championships at a dynastic level. Those fans being priced out have to be happy to see their favorite team winning championships, but it’s come at the cost of being able to afford tickets to games. What will be most interesting is what happens when, eventually, the dynasty years end and the team is in the Chase Center in San Francisco. Will the die-hards make the pilgrimage across the Bay for games, or will the Warriors struggle to get folks in the door if there is an eventual slip back to mediocrity?

]]>https://uproxx.com/dimemag/damian-lillard-warriors-fans-ticket-prices/feed/0damian-lillard-warriors.jpgWe Handed Out Awards For The Best In Gaming From 2018https://uproxx.com/gaming/video-game-of-the-year-awards/
https://uproxx.com/gaming/video-game-of-the-year-awards/#commentsWed, 26 Dec 2018 17:00:00 +0000http://uproxx.com/?p=401665166

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It was one hell of a year for video games in 2018. Several franchises dropped years-in-the-making installments, some gigantic announcements and sequels were made, esports and indie games took things to another level, and everyone yelled about Waluigi for a while. All in all, big wins all around. Except for the Waluigi thing. We stan a king and he is a king.

We wanted to take the time to single out the deserving games that made this year so wonderful, so Bill DiFilippo, Konata Edwards, Chris Barnewall, Bill Hanstock, and Ryan Nagelhout put together some categories and handed out some awards.

Without further ado, here’s the best of the best from 2018 in the world of gaming.

Game Of The Year

Rockstar Games 2 on Twitter

Bill DiFilippo: Spider-Man. I so badly wanted to say a game that deserves praise for being beautiful (and for being, objectively, the best game I played this year or any other year), like Red Dead Redemption 2, or a game that had a compelling story and main character, like God of War. But at the end of the day, I think of why I play video games, and it’s because I like doing things that are fun. For me, no game was more fun than Spider-Man, as flying around New York City and fighting crime never stopped being an absolute blast. I have yet to purchase the additional chapters that serve as Downloadable Content, but I cannot wait to do this, because I was legitimately bummed out when I finished the game. Other games might be better, but Spider-Man brought me the most joy, so it wins.

Konata Edwards: Spider-Man.Red Dead Redemption 2 and God Of War were excellent games that should win tons of awards, there’s just no game that spoke to me like Spider-Man did this year.

Chris Barnewall: Red Dead Redemption 2. The criticisms of this game are very fair. Red Dead Redemption 2 is slow, it embraces being slow, and it creates a sense of realism that many don’t want in their games. Some people just want to ride horses, rob banks, and be an outlaw without worrying about their stamina, or the status of their horse, or if they need to shave. But RDR2 embracing its slowness is exactly why it was my favorite game of 2018, because it made me embrace parts of the game I never thought I would. I’ve never sat down at a fire and just watched the flames burn while I relax in a video game, but I did that in RDR2. I’ve never just enjoyed a ride across the land while nature around me changed the way it does in RDR2. It’s those little moments that I was forced to embrace that ended up being my favorite part of the game, and it’s why Red Dead Redemption 2 is my Game of the Year.

Bill Hanstock: God of War. I spoke about it at length in my review, but this game was absolutely stunning. Story, gameplay, design — everything worked on every possible level. While Red Dead Redemption 2 is a remarkable achievement in terms of how a game is built, the story didn’t come close to matching the depth and breadth of God of War, nor was the gameplay anywhere near as fun. Similarly, if Spider-Man had had just a biiiit more story and balance, it would have had a chance of matching up against God of War for my pick as Game of the Year, because I didn’t have more fun playing another game this year. For the full package, though, it’s God of War, hands down.

Ryan Nagelhout: Red Dead Redemption 2. Everyone plays games at their own pace, but one of the most remarkable things about playing and discussing RDR2 is that the way everyone navigated through the game was actually interesting. Talking about the campaign of most games amounts to someone talking about a fantasy football league you’re not in: The concept is the same as what you’re doing, but somehow it’s far more boring. That wasn’t the case with RDR2. The drunken mission is great, and everyone loves telling stories of harrowing escapes from the law with hundreds of dollars on their head, but no one gamer happened to handle the individual bits and parts of the game the same way. There’s something to be said for a game offering a unique experience while still having its essential parts still on rails. I’ve been endlessly fascinated by what players do with Arthur once they escape the cold and get into the world, and it’s made me approach the game in a renewed way each time.

Multiplayer/Online Game Of The Year

Epic Games

Bill DiFilippo: Fortnite. It’s maddening, and getting owned by teens with gamertags like xXxVAPEBOI696969oOo sucks, and the fact that I decided to go into insane student loan debt instead of spending all my time getting good at gaming and learning how to be personable on Twitch is one of the great regrets of my life. But god dammit, I love playing Fortnite. It’s such a good way to kill a few hours with friends, and every update does something to keep the game fresh and new.

Konata Edwards: Red Dead Redemption 2. I’ve sunk about 20 hours into this and I’m addicted, even at the beta stage. This is going to take GTA V‘s online capabilities and turn them on their ear. It’s been so much fun.

Chris Barnewall: Warhammer: Vermintide 2. It’s a shame this game didn’t take off the way I felt it should have. Warhammer is a blast from start to finish and once you’re finished you’ll continue to play it to try and get new loot and create new fun moments with friends. If you miss the days of Left 4 Dead, then I strongly suggest giving Warhammer a try.

Bill Hanstock: Overwatch. I created these awards and I’m still not sure whether Overwatch counts, but I’m choosing to believe it does. Blizzard knows how to do two things better than anyone else: create broad-appeal games, and then continually work to make those games better. The Overwatch League is the most fun of any esports league, and the new characters and mechanics keep getting more amazing, for the fan art if nothing else.

Ryan Nagelhout: Fortnite. I am not good at this game and probably never will be. That’s OK, as I’ve long ago accepted that the teens are going to own me irrevocably and I am now well-prepared for that fact. But what makes Fortnite good is not how it changes ever so slightly or because it’s highly replayable. The cultural significance of this game has to count for something, too, and 2018 was the year that Fortnite became A Thing and brought a new light onto gaming. Grandparents know what Twitch is, Ninja is streaming in Times Square on New Year’s Eve and Drake might be lurking out there, taking you out from his hotel room in wherever Drake hangs out these days. Fortnite had a really big year, and even if it’s not your thing, you have to recognize just how huge the game has gotten.

Best Mechanic

Marvel

Bill DiFilippo: Webslinging, Spider-Man. Swinging around in Spider-Man was a blast. The fighting mechanics were super fun, too, but webslinging was just such a breath of fresh air that there were times when I kind of ignored everything else and just traversed around virtual New York. Compared to the glacial pace that things move in RDR2, this was thrilling.

Konata Edwards: Webslinging, Spider-Man. Spider-Man swinging through New York City, along with the combat mechanics in the game, are new and feel absolutely necessary. The learning curve involved with both of those additions is such that learning the ropes heightens the fun of everything else you do in Spider-Man.

Chris Barnewall: Webslinging, Spider-Man. At one point this year I was sitting at a friend’s house talking about our lives and other random subjects while I swung around in Spider-Man. At no point did I ever get bored or desire to go fight someone or do a mission. I just wanted to keep swinging. It’s amazingly addictive.

Bill Hanstock: Webslinging, Spider-Man. Kratos’ axe was the early frontrunner for best mechanic, and then Spider-Man dropped and changed the current-gen traversal game forever. This is the first game in history where manually going from point A to point B is more liberating than tedious, and yes I am looking in the direction of Red Dead Redemption 2 as I say that. Tooling around a city has never, ever been more fun and downright exhilarating. Well done, Insomniac.

Ryan Nagelhout: Webslinging, Spider-Man I don’t have a PS4 right now. It’s web… singing, is it? Sounds musical. I’d like to try it sometime.

Character Of The Year

Sony

Bill DiFilippo: Kratos. In terms of the character I feel the strongest about, it was Micah from Red Dead Redemption 2, who sucks and I hate him. But despite the fact that I never played earlier versions of God of War, I was really taken back by the amount of depth Kratos had, both as a God and, more prominently, as the father of Atreus. It’s a beautiful, wonderful game, largely thanks to the character at the center of it all.

Konata Edwards: Dutch van der Linde. While it wasn’t gamers’ first time meeting Dutch, the journey with him in Red Dead Redemption 2 was one of the more interesting character studies into a villainous man with clear contradictions. He was part snake oil salesmen, part evangelist, and part horrible human being. I’ll never forget him.

Chris Barnewall: Kratos. Adding actual life and character into Kratos might be the greatest individual character achievement of the year. This is a character that was a brooding and angry man just known for slaying gods in his first three games. The most recent God of War explored him in a way that should have been impossible, and touched fans in a way that shouldn’t have been possible. Read it boy.

Bill Hanstock: Kratos. There wasn’t a more impressive achievement this year than turning I’ve-got-a-hard-dick-and-I-kill-people 2000s hero Kratos — previously the post-Duke Nukem poster boy for one-dimensional gamerism — into someone with depth, someone worth caring about. I’ll likely never be more impressed with a franchise pivot than I was with what Santa Monica Studios pulled off with Kratos and his poor cursed child.

Ryan Nagelhout: Pikachu. I went to a Pokemon event earlier in the year and people were lining up to take a picture with what’s clearly a person in a very small for a human but large for a Pokemon costume. Still, there was a queue for him because, god damn, do people love them some Pikachu. He got his own reimagining of the original Pokemon experience on the Switch and it was largely a success. He’s getting a weird detective movie. Pikachu has been loved by at least two decades of gamers now, and with Smash Bros. Ultimate, his reach grows even further. Talk to me when Kratos gets his own nationwide tour and people line up to take pictures with him because of his sentimental side.

Sports Game Of The Year

EA Sports

Bill DiFilippo: FIFA 19. The addition of new Kick-Off modes, the Active Touch system, Champions League, and the new, in-depth tactics that give you near-total control of how your team plays adds some life to a game that, like every sports game, needs a few tweaks every year to keep things fresh. Most importantly, my beloved Manchester City is very good in it, which is a big deal to me, because I’ll be damned if I use a team that sucks when I play online.

Konata Edwards: FIFA 19. The additional physics added to this year’s game, along with adding Champions League, only solidify what was already an excellent game.

Chris Barnewall: NBA 2K19.2K has slowed down a bit from its heyday of a few years ago, but the two most recent installments where they’ve embraced the RPG format of My Player mode have put some new life into the series. The story elements have gotten so over the top that it’s almost comedic, and I 100 percent approve.

Ryan Nagelhout: FIFA 19. I will bring my beloved AFC Wimbledon into Champions League and they will be kings of Europe. I just need to, uh, get a lot better at this game than I currently am.

Best Horse

Rockstar Games

Bill DiFilippo: FLUFFY. My first horse in Red Dead was named Fluffy. I loved Fluffy. It was a good horse. I am speaking in the past tense because Fluffy … well if you finish RDR2 you know and good lord did it ruin me.

Konata Edwards: Stallion 2. He was my Arabian Elite steed and an O’Driscoll killed him because I had a $750 bounty on my head at the time. Damn, I miss that horse.

Chris Barnewall: O’Driscoll-slaughtered stallion. The first time the O’Driscolls killed my horse I felt an anger that I’m not sure will ever be repeated. I will hunt them down and make them pay.

Bill Hanstock: Superfly. I named my first two horses in RDR2 Nathaniel and Superfly, because I am that Weird Al fan. Superfly was an absolutely beautiful horse, and I loved him and had mastered my bond with him. Then I didn’t realize there was a sheer-drop incline as I was out riding him and we both plunged over a cliff to our deaths, and apparently that means permadeath for my poor horse, and I then had to spend most of an hour trying to get to a cranny off the edge of a cliff to retrieve my saddle and all my belongings from around the dusty bones of my beloved corpse-horse. Great game, guys.

Ryan Nagelhout: Jeff. Naming horses extremely ordinary human names seemed rather funny at the time, and so the first horse I managed to tame in the wild I named Jeff. Jeff was also a Father John Misty reference of sorts, which of course he was. Jeff died when I put RDR2 in panoramic mode and went to grab a drink downstairs. By the time I came back I was half-dead near some rocks and Jeff was … actually I never found Jeff ever again. Maybe he evaporated, as we had fully bonded and Jeff was starting to really motor around from place to place for me. He is presumed dead, though, and I was further insulted when the game wouldn’t let my next horse name, Jack, pass through the profanity filter. I have since found better horses, but never a better Jeff.

Rajon Rondo used to have quite a rivalry with current Lakers teammate LeBron James. During James’ first run in Cleveland and then in Miami he had many battles with Rondo and the Celtics. Rondo must have left quite an impression on James because almost all of that has been left behind in Los Angeles. Rondo is a trusted teammate of James and someone the Lakers rely on quite frequently.

When that trust was built isn’t clear, but James was apparently all for bringing Rondo to Los Angeles. The two’s previous relationship was inconsequential to him. He just wanted to win basketball games. According to Rondo himself, that desire to win and play with him is why he’s in Los Angeles. James wanted him, even if that wasn’t specifically vocalized to him before he signed, via The Undefeated.

“And with LeBron joining the team, it was a no-brainer. He didn’t call at all. But he didn’t have to call. He wanted me, obviously. The Lakers are not going to go get a point guard he doesn’t want. He had interviews in the playoffs where he talked about having a veteran guy he can trust with the ball. I feel like I am a great option for that situation.”

Rondo was pretty confident that James wanted a guard like him if he was being called by the Lakers which, considering how much influence James has on any organization he plays for, is a pretty a safe bet. James had to have at least earned some respect from battling against Rondo over the years even if he did rub him the wrong way sometimes.

Of course, that’s all in the past, and Rondo has played a role for the Lakers that has been desperately needed. Not just as a guard, but as a locker room figure. He’s already had a huge influence on the young Brandon Ingram.

Me and Brandon Ingram are close. I know he has my back 100 percent. My dog. He is the first one I’m calling if I get into some s—. I got B.I. a little something after the suspensions but can’t really talk about it. A nice little parting gift. We chopped it up. We had dinner together. We got to converse a little bit more. He’s quiet. I’m quiet. He came over for dinner a couple of nights we had to sit out and we watched the game. Obviously, that bonded us a little bit more.

If Rondo continues to play well on the court and remains a great locker room influence, then James will notice that and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him making the case to Lakers management why Rondo should remain in Los Angeles beyond this season.

Austin Rivers has done a lot of traveling this season. After spending a large portion of his career in Los Angeles, he was traded to the Wizards over the offseason. He was then traded to the Suns but immediately was waived. Rivers is a combo guard that can run an offense if it’s required of him, but he’s at his best attacking with the ball in his hands. So the best location for him is where someone else will be handling the ball next to him.

Somewhere like the Rockets with James Harden. According to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle, Rivers will sign with the Rockets. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN later reported that Rivers expected role is to take some of the minutes from the ailing Chris Paul. The Rockets are currently without Paul while he recovers from a hamstring injury.

Austin Rivers will take over some minutes in the absence of his ex-Clippers teammate Chris Paul. https://t.co/hQZtKq2fLJ

This could actually work out really well for the Rockets. Harden is going to take on most of the responsibility as far as running the offense goes, but Rivers can handle those duties when Harden sits or apply pressure on the defense when he’s sharing the floor with Harden. Despite his reputation, Rivers is a solid player that will fit well into a bench role once Paul returns from injury. He attacks well with the ball in his hands and is solid on defense. He won’t lock anybody down, but he isn’t tanking an entire defense on his own.

This also will not be the first time that Rivers has played with Paul. The two worked together in Los Angeles for the Clippers so Paul should have a solid understanding of what Rivers can and can’t do. As long as the two have no bad blood left over then this could be a pairing that works well for everybody involved.

]]>https://uproxx.com/dimemag/rockets-sign-austin-rivers-chris-paul-injury/feed/0austin-rivers-point.jpgJoel Embiid And T.J. McConnell’s Wife Once ‘Fought Almost To The Death’ Over A Board Gamehttps://uproxx.com/dimemag/joel-embiid-tj-mcconnell-76ers-wife-board-game/
https://uproxx.com/dimemag/joel-embiid-tj-mcconnell-76ers-wife-board-game/#commentsThu, 20 Dec 2018 20:58:37 +0000http://uproxx.com/?p=401661362

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Joel Embiid is a very competitive person. Scratch that. Everybody in the NBA is competitive, but Embiid takes it to another level. T.J. McConnell is just as competitive as the next guy, but even he is impressed sometimes by the sheer competitive nature of his big man teammate. McConnell has been a part of the 76ers throughout the entirety of “The Process” which means he’s seen it all. From worst team in the NBA to a playoff contender. McConnell was there.

He also once saw his wife and Embiid try to kill each other over a board game. Remember that whole competitive thing? Yeah, even when he’s off the court Embiid is still insanely competitive. Throw in McConnell’s extremely competitive wife and you got yourself one heck of a story, via The Players’ Tribune.

“I’ll tell you a quick story. It’s last season, and I’m out with a shoulder injury……. and I’m feeling pretty low about it. Just one of those things, you know? It sucks to not be helping the team. But on this particular night, Joel’s out too, with his eye. So I get a quick text from him, inviting me over to watch the game. It’s just classic Joel — he’s one of these guys who prides himself on being, like, a legit-legit friend. (Not as normal around the league as you might think.)

But then here’s what sets Joel apart even more. After that text? There’s a follow-up.

“Yo — bring your wife, too.”

We ended up having the greatest night.

And by “we ended up having the greatest night,” do I mean, “I had a nice, relaxing evening watching the game on Joel’s huge projector screen, while Joel and my lovely wife FOUGHT ALMOST TO THE DEATH over a board game??” Yeah, that’s what I mean.

I think the last words spoken before we left his apartment were Joel — with my wife standing there, just fuming — yelling out, “Nah, you lost. You lost fair and square. Fair AND square. Ask around. I’ve never lost. NEVAAAA.”

There are real ones and then there’s want to kill you over a board game real ones. A competitor like Embiid is going to want to win at everything he can no matter how small. That’s great until he runs into someone equally competitive like McConnell’s wife. Then all hell can potentially break loose apparently. It sounds like from McConnell’s story that Embiid’s not just a sore loser, but a sore winner as well.

In conclusion? Game night at the Embiid household is a battle and may the best winner come out on top. There is no room for losers.

The Bulls might set a record for low points this season before Christmas comes next Tuesday and it’s impressive as to how much has gone wrong for them this season. They fired their coach, are looking to trade Jabari Parker, and almost had a team mutiny. That and they’re tied for last place in the East at 7-25.

To make matters worse, one of the few bright spots for the Bulls, Zach LaVine, is dealing with an ankle injury that will sit him out for two to four weeks. What else can go wrong? More injuries of course! On Thursday, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that Bobby Portis will be out two to four weeks with an ankle sprain.

Chicago's Bobby Portis will miss 2-to-4 weeks with a right ankle sprain, joining Zach LaVine as out for multiple weeks with ankle sprain.

Not that LaVine or Portis is going to save an already disastrous Bulls season, but the last thing this ailing Bulls team needs right now is to lose one of their top scoring contributors and a big man that shows actual effort when he’s on the floor. LaVine might not play great defense and he doesn’t pass very often, but you look at the players around him and it makes sense as to why he doesn’t. Where exactly is the talent that’s supposed to help him?

Portis is fun to watch. He gobbles up rebounds and dunks the ball with force. His defense is still a bit of an unknown right now, because he’s spent his entire career in systems where it didn’t matter how he played the impact was not going to show up. He’s someone that gives effort though and the Bulls are in severe need of that right now. I guess on the bright side it can’t get much worse?

]]>https://uproxx.com/dimemag/bobby-portis-bulls-ankle-injuries-zach-lavine/feed/0Bobby-Portis-getty.jpgRick Pitino Will Return To Coaching After Taking A Job In Greece With Panathinkaikoshttps://uproxx.com/dimemag/rick-pitino-coach-greece-panathinkaikos/
https://uproxx.com/dimemag/rick-pitino-coach-greece-panathinkaikos/#commentsThu, 20 Dec 2018 18:34:55 +0000http://uproxx.com/?p=401660927

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Rick Pitino is back in coaching. The former Louisville head coach has been searching for a way back into basketball since he was fired in 2017, but he hasn’t had any luck in the states. As a result, Pitino will head across the Atlantic to Europe and coach in Greece.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Pitino has agreed to become the head coach of Panathinaikos a Euro League powerhouse that last won the Euroleague championship in 2011. It will be looking for a return to form under Pitino, but it will be interesting to see how much success there is for a coach that has only coached at the college and NBA levels. Never in Europe. Pitino is expected to start shortly after Christmas.

A formal agreement is expected soon, sources told ESPN. Pitino is expected to travel to Athens and coach his first game shortly after Christmas. Pitino's goal has remained to return to the NBA, and this deal's term will be for the rest of the season. https://t.co/vkxwsMK9tS

Panathinaikos is trying to get back to its winning ways. It currently has started the year struggling and according to Wojnarowski it will fire current coach Xavi Pascual to hire Pitino. He will be walking into an interesting situation. He has a lot of former NBA players on his roster, but he’ll be working for an owner that can best be described as “volcanic.”

Panathinaikos has started 6-7 in the EuroLeague, leaving the team in 10th place. The team’s owner, Dimitrios Giannakopoulos, has a volcanic reputation in Europe. He was fined $150,000 Euros in 2015 for barging into the referee’s room and threatening to kill the officials and their families — after a playoff victory over CSKA Moscow.

Pitino last coached in 2017 before he was fired at Louisville due to investigations by the FBI into college basketball. These investigations have essentially removed Pitino from coaching at the college level anytime in the near future as he has a permanent mark on him that isn’t going to go away.

Pitino briefly coached in the NBA without much success with the Knicks and Celtics. He is still angling to get a position in the Association next year, as Woj notes, but his age and mediocre results in the NBA don’t make him exactly a top candidate. Pitino did tell ESPN that he is just looking for a coaching position and nothing more which could help his case to get a job in the future. Almost all of his previous head coaching positions featured him with major control of team operations.

“I’m not looking for any of that (power/control) at this stage of my life,” Pitino told ESPN recently. “I want to develop teams and develop players and build a winner. I value analytics. I want to fit into an organization. At this stage, that’s all I’m interested in.”

Pitino was one of the most successful coaches in all of college basketball and accrued a record of 647 wins and 392 losses throughout his career. He won two NCAA championships, one at Kentucky and one at Louisville.

The Kings are the NBA’s biggest surprise team this year and that’s largely thanks to the efforts of De’Aaron Fox. The young, speedy point guard has been incredible for Sacramento this year, averaging 17.9 points, 7.3 assists, and 3.5 rebounds per game with a 57 percent true shooting percentage — all massive leaps from his rookie numbers. Every game he’s looked more and more like a future star. He still has a long way to go if he’s going to be a face of the league, but he already has a natural skill set that is going to vault him into the conversation some day.

The best skill Fox has is his speed. He has full control of himself with the ball in his hands and that speed can be overwhelming. A lot of young players make the mistake of going too fast to control themselves and it hampers their game. Not only can Fox play at top speed with no issue, but the control he has of that speed is a weapon few players in the NBA have. Fox can stop on a dime and pull up before the defender has time to realize he’s taking a shot. Few players are capable of that.

So it shouldn’t be surprising to know that Fox is incredibly confident in his speed. So confident that he’s willing to put himself up there against anybody in the NBA in terms of speed. John Wall? Russell Westbrook? It doesn’t matter. Fox thinks he’s faster.

Alright here’s how this gets settled. All-Star Weekend in Charlotte. Someone needs to convince Russell Westbrook and John Wall to enter the skills competition. Fox has to enter too. Then the three guards can settle who really is the fastest player in the NBA. There might even be some actual effort involved with Fox already giving himself the title. That’s exactly what that event needs, some pre-game drama to raise the stakes a little. Other fast players might even feel slighted and try to get themselves involved.

]]>https://uproxx.com/dimemag/deaaron-fox-sacramento-kings-fast/feed/1de'aaron foxKobe Bryant Once Convinced Refs He Was Fouled While Shooting Because He Didn’t Pass All Gamehttps://uproxx.com/dimemag/kobe-bryant-richard-jefferson-story-free-throws-video/
https://uproxx.com/dimemag/kobe-bryant-richard-jefferson-story-free-throws-video/#commentsWed, 19 Dec 2018 19:30:00 +0000http://uproxx.com/?p=401658948

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Did Kobe Bryant ever once, in his entire career, pass the ball? Well, duh, of course he has. The Lakers legend may have been known for chucking shots, but nobody can survive in the NBA without passing sometimes. However, Bryant’s reputation was that of a gunner. If he had the ball, then his first, second, and third options were to find a way to score.

That reputation benefitted Bryant throughout his career. Not only did it make him a feared scorer by defenders — he was considered the toughest person to guard in the NBA — but it gave him a great line he could use on unsuspecting referees. Richard Jefferson told a story while broadcasting Tuesday’s game between the Lakers and Nets about a time Bryant managed shoot free throws by telling the refs he hadn’t passed all game. They believed him.

While calling the Nets game, Richard Jefferson told a story about hearing Kobe convince the refs to give him a shooting foul.

“I’ll tell you a Kobe story,” Jefferson said. “They were trying to figure out whether or not he was shooting and Kobe straight told the official ‘I haven’t passed the ball all night.’ They just ended up giving him the free throws! They accepted that!”

This is about as unsurprising of a Kobe story as you’ll hear. It has everything you expected about his profile as a player summed up in one story: His reputation as a ballhog, his influence on the refs, and that the refs honestly believed he didn’t pass all game, because he never passes. It’s all here. Besides, nobody can really blame the refs, because who honestly would have ever believed that Kobe was opting to pass when he could shoot instead?

]]>https://uproxx.com/dimemag/kobe-bryant-richard-jefferson-story-free-throws-video/feed/1kobe-bryant.jpgWatch LeBron James Coach Up His Son After A Tough Winhttps://uproxx.com/dimemag/lebron-james-instagram-son-bryce-coaching-video/
https://uproxx.com/dimemag/lebron-james-instagram-son-bryce-coaching-video/#commentsWed, 19 Dec 2018 17:30:00 +0000http://uproxx.com/?p=401658467

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LeBron James is the kind of person where every moment of his life is caught on a camera. When you’re the best basketball player in the entire world and everything you do represents a brand, that’s just the life you have to accept. It can be weird at times, but James does a good job controlling it.

One part of James life that he sometimes allows people to get a glimpse into is his time spent being a father. James is very active in his children’s lives and that includes their time on a basketball court. James posted a video on his Instagram of him coaching up his son Bryce after they managed to win a tough game.

It’s a great message from a father to his son.

What’s interesting for Bryce is that the person talking to him here is not LeBron James the basketball player, but just his dad giving him advice. Yes, he is the best player of his generation and going to go down as one of the greatest players ever, but that doesn’t really matter.

Kids don’t care about what their parents have accomplished in life. They just want them to be parents. James is being that for his son Bryce, and it’s lovely.

Orlando Magic forward Wesley Iwundu doesn’t really grab your attention, and most people may not even know who he is. The 6’7 forward out of Kansas State was drafted with the 33rd pick in the 2017 NBA Draft and started 12 games as a rookie, a number he’s already matched this season. On a Magic team that covets long, athletic players, he’s listed with a 7’1 wingspan and will do one thing a game that would impress anyone who knows to keep an eye on him.

The hard part, though, is that most people aren’t paying attention, both to Iwundu and Orlando’s NBA franchise.

It’s not a matter of shyness. When Iwundu walks into a room, he does so with a beaming smile. He’s as engaging of a player as you’ll meet off the court, as Iwundu seems to enjoy chatting with those who approach him. However, he’s someone who doesn’t go out of his way to make sure you know he’s there — he gives off a relaxed vibe in the locker room, which is ironic, because when you watch him on the court, Iwundu doesn’t hold anything back.

“I want to get after it on defense, man.” Iwundu told Dime. “(I want) my impact felt greatest on the defensive end.”

Iwundu is a bulldog on defense, getting up in the opposing player’s face and making them uncomfortable. He isn’t afraid to get physical with the opposition, an approach that every great defender possesses. For Iwundu, this isn’t anything more than what he has always done on that end of the floor.

“It’s a natural thing, man.” Iwundu said. “Just finding any way to impact the game make a difference in the game. My job is, if we need some help on defense, let me step it up on defense and try to make something happen.”

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Iwundu and I met at the King Sports & Entertainment building in Orlando at his request. It’s perfect for a quiet conversation, and he was more than happy to sit down and discuss his approach to basketball — he’s not used to getting attention, both because he’s a second-round role player and his style isn’t exactly flashy. A quick YouTube search for “Wesley Iwundu highlights” pulls up a 12-point performance against the Wizards last year and a 31-point outing in the G League.

“I’ve always been an under the radar guy.” Iwundu said. “Even in college, getting to the draft, if you want to talk about rankings in high school, I was never at the top of the list. I think that’s what’s been fueling my game to get better every day to this point.”

Basketball players are notorious for using any little thing as motivation — Kobe Bryant still talks about getting traded by the Hornets on draft night. For Iwundu, though, that isn’t necessarily the case. In his eyes, no game or opponent is different. Even when he goes up against childhood heroes like LeBron James, Iwundu makes sure to stay level.

“I just feel like I’m not backing down from nobody,” Iwundu said. “I’m accepting all challenges no matter who you are. Looking at everybody the same way, I’m trying to stop you from getting a bucket on me at the end of the day.

“It’s still crazy seeing LeBron play for the Lakers, but you know anytime you matchup against the best player in the world it’s always a great challenge,” Iwundu continued. “You always get up for those types of games”

A player like Iwundu is exactly what the Magic want. Orlando is a team that has struggled to stay focused and consistent since the Dwight Howard trade back in 2012. It would start off the year hot, run into some adversity, and collapse. By March, the team would look like it just wanted to get to the offseason. The team tried to address this in 2017, when it enacted a front office overhaul led by Jeff Weltman and John Hammond that viewed mental toughness as a necessity.

Weltman and Hammond are notorious for valuing lengthy players, and Iwundu’s length may be the biggest contributing factor to how he ended up in Orlando. The Magic have stocked up on long bodies, throwing them all out there against teams to cause havoc. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but it’s almost always game changing. Some teams have to play weird lineups to find an advantage, which has made the life of Jonathan Isaac, who Iwundu considers the best defender in the NBA, easier.

“There’s a lot of guys on this team that have great length, and it’s a great thing to have on the floor,” Isaac says. “It’s a great thing to have as a weapon to deter teams from the basket.”

The team itself has noticed that length. They thrive on it and try to use it to their advantage.

“I think up to this point our length has been a big time factor for us in all these games and even with switching and causing mismatch problems,” Iwundu says. “It’s a great feeling. It’s just, like, a confidence booster when you know you have not only you, but maybe two to three other guys with the same length same ability to do things.”

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Iwundu’s long-term fit in Orlando is a bit of a question. As a defender, he’s working to get to a point where he’s indispensable. He attacks ball handlers at the point of contact, and he’s learning how to use length to his advantage, but he’s still trying to learn the NBA way. What he is certain of is that his future in the league is tied to his ability to defend and impact the game in a number of ways, similar to an Andre Iguodala.

“It’s not one thing I do great, it’s everything I do good,” Iwundu says. “By the end, when it’s all said and done, 12-plus years, I just want to be known as a great two-way player — did everything on defense plus made some good things happen on offense. I wanna be known as one of the best defenders in the league.”

Iwundu has the defensive intensity, but his offensive game is going to need some work. He doesn’t have a floor-spacing jumper, and as a result, teams are more than willing to leave him alone and allow him to shoot. It will be up to him to punish them for that. He doesn’t need to be a deadeye shooter, but being capable of making defenses pay for leaving him wide open can be just as dangerous. While the shot isn’t there yet, the confidence is, which is one of the biggest ways he’s improved from his rookie year to his second, which Magic teammate Terrence Ross notices.

“He has a better offensive package.” Ross says. “He’s a more confident shooter. I think that’s the overall thing. His confidence.”

It helps that Iwundu has a handful of veterans around him to teach him how to come to work every day and put in the work. He cites players like Jonathon Simmons, Evan Fournier, and Ross as guys who set an example that he tries to follow.

Iwundu has a long way to go, but it’s evident to anyone who watches him that there’s a path to him being an impactful NBA player for a long time. With some polish, Iwundu can go from being just another second-round pick to a headache for opponents on a nightly basis. It’ll surprise people when it happens, but for Iwundu, that’s OK. Flying under the radar is nothing new to him, so he knows exactly what he needs to do.